§ Mr. JOHNSTONasked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that payment of extended unemployment benefit has been stopped to all fish-workers at Buckie Employment Exchange on the ground that there is a new Regulation forbidding such benefit being paid to fish-workers unless 10 months' employment can be proved for the previous year; whether he is aware of the great hardship entailed in a district where the fishing industry has been distressed for some years: and whether he will revert to the previous ruling whereby fish-worker claimants proving 10 months' employment in any year, and satisfying the local employment committee of having failed, after a genuine search, to secure 661W employment, shall be held qualified for extended benefit?
§ Mr. BETTERTONThe rule with regard to seasonal fish-workers is that they must be ordinarily employed for 10 months or more in the year in order to be eligible for extended benefit. This rule has been in force for some years, but until recently owing to a misapprehension, has not been applied consistently at Buckie. The cases referred to were disallowed not because the claimants could not show 10 months' employment in the previous year, but because, according to evidence covering the previous five years or more, they could not show they are ordinarily employed for this proportion of the year. They have all drawn more benefit than is represented by their contributions and I am afraid I cannot alter the decision.