§ 22. Mr. IRVINGasked the Minister of Labour whether his attention has been drawn to the large number of share fishermen who are out of employment; whether he is aware that the majority of these men were mine-sweeping and patrolling during the War and received out-of-work benefit up to the 31st March, but were excluded from benefit under the new Act; and whether, in view of the work these men have done during the War, he will consider the possibility of taking steps to bring this class of men within the scope of the Act?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAI am aware that there is a considerable amount of unemployment among share fishermen. Fishermen wholly remunerated by shares in the profits or gross earnings of fishing vessels are, however, expressly excluded from Unemployment Insurance by paragraph (k) of Part 11 of the First Schedule to the Unemployment Insurance Act,1920, and for this reason are not entitled to unemployment benefit under that Act or the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1921. The exclusion of such fishermen from Unemployment Insurance was pressed upon me when the Unemployment Insurance Act was before Parliament, and I do not see my way to propose an Amendment of the Act in order to bring them within its scope.