"Emergency assistance remains as an insurance benefit" "DiePresse.com

The Minister for Social Affairs, Beate Hartinger-Klein (FPÖ), is in favor of urgent assistance. In particular, on Monday, she stated that this measure had not been completely abolished: "The FPÖ and I guarantee that emergency assistance will continue as insurance," said Hartinger-Klein. On ÖVP's part, they did not want to comment on the content and referred to the ongoing negotiations on the reform of unemployment benefits.

Heinz-Christian Strache, Vice-President, did not comment on the provision of emergency care until the warning: "For unemployed or emergency workers – for those who want to work, but do not get a job or have a long time but we can not work for health reasons, we will not allow you, we We are guaranteeing equity and equity, there will be no Hartz IV. "

>>> More than half of the unemployed receive emergency assistance

Finally, at the weekend, it was announced that the Ministry of Social Affairs had commissioned a study by the Economics Research Institute on the consequences of the reform of emergency assistance. Wifo confirmed the existence of the study, but pointed out that there is still no end result. The study analyzed several scenarios to test the effects of different options. Eliminating emergency assistance was "an inadequate customer specification," Wifo said.

The minister criticizes the media and the opposition, the ÖVP is silent

Hartinger-Klein defended against some media presentations on Monday that emergency relief would be lifted: "As Wifo explained yesterday, there is no ready-made research on emergency assistance, it seems strange to me that SPÖ is playing with the population and there is intentional uncertainty here," she also addressed critics of the opposition. ÖVP at the moment did not have significant feedback on this issue. In the party, as well as in the parliamentary club, one concerns only the ongoing talks with the FPÖ on reform of unemployment benefits. The government program is based on it, said the spokesman.

The "Work" section of the Tampere-Blue Coalition government envisages "the coordination, reorientation and further development of unemployment benefits, emergency assistance and the need-oriented minimum income protection". To this end, you need to create a "Unemployment Allowance NEW" with "Gradually Reduced Benefit Level and Emergency Asset Integration." This means that the longer you receive an unemployment benefit because it is lower. Emergency assistance should be included in the new unemployment benefit, which would probably mean cancellation.

Hartingers-Klein from the beginning expressed concern about this topic. Already in January this year, she said that the long-term unemployed would not be covered with minimal incomes. "The German model of the Hartz IV will not exist with me as Minister of Social Affairs," she said on January 3. Just two days later, the head of department, following a charge from the Federal Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP), resigned: "The new unemployment benefit" is intended to replace emergency assistance, "she said.

And it is precisely this issue that deals with the current debate: so that long-term unemployed people get out of emergency aid, they are only the application of minimum income. In this case, funds are available. The FPÖ is opposed to these impressive days because the ÖVP people are very interested in this topic. ÖVP club chairman August Wögingers, however, did not want to exclude – for example, in a conversation with the Oberösterreichische Nachrichten from January this year – that it could come to active availability.

(APA / Red.)