The surge in unemployment means there is an urgent need for additional social welfare staff to deal with redundancy payments and referrals to Back to Education and Back to Enterprise schemes.
This is the view of Labour president and Galway West TD Michael D Higgins. He said the “immense pressure” on staff handling such applications will “inevitably lead to additional stress on the unemployed”.
According to Dep Higgins, many workers who have been made redundant are being forced to wait four months before their applications for statutory redundancy are processed by the Department of Enterprise, and before they receive any payment.
“This is too long,” said Dep Higgins. “In previous years, when people were more likely to pick up a new job relatively quickly, this may not have been such a big issue. In the current environment, where people are finding it increasingly difficult to get back on their feet in the short term, this is a real problem.”
He said such delays impact on people’s ability to make mortgage repayments and this “compounds the stress experienced when somebody loses a job by bringing about a threat that they could also lose their home”.
Dep Higgins said there are also “unacceptable delays” in relation the Back to Education, and Back to Enterprise, schemes.
“Seeking clearance from the Revenue Commissioners takes several months and the process of getting on the social welfare track can only begin after that,” he said. “It would be a practical step by the Government to remove all of the obstacles and delays, without different Government departments standing in the way of those who are responding to their unemployment.”
