Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. The activation support programme provides funding to local organisations and agencies to implement training and education initiatives. It is focused on the needs of social welfare recipients, and their families, who are very distant from the labour market. There is a plethora of other initiatives that help people to get back into the labour force. The Department makes a number of grants available to people who are long-term unemployed, or to employers, to help them to get back to work. I refer to the EmployAbility programme, the local area employment services and a number of different programmes. This programme is demand-led and supports employment service teams to work with local organisations to provide a tailored response to local training needs. Where initiatives are funded through this scheme, the Department can provide co-funding of up to 50% of the overall cost. The Government has provided €600,000 for the scheme in 2024.

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