Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I hope Mr. Darragh O'Connor heard what the officials from the Department of Social Protection had to say. They highlighted some of the changes that are coming but some of the questions and issues raised by Mr. O'Connor were not fully addressed.

Can Mr. O'Connor tell me the cost of a FETAC level 5 child care course and how long such a course takes to complete? Can it be done within a year or does it require more time than that? The information I have is that it is not always possible to complete a FETAC level 5 child care course in a single year or even to progress beyond that. The use of community employment schemes as a vehicle through which people attained child care qualifications and progressed to full-time employment is not an option any more because the private sector is now demanding level 6 qualifications and it is my understanding that it is not possible to complete levels 5 and 6 in a single year.

How have projects been affected by the changes relating to those on disability allowance and lone parents allowance? I quoted figures earlier from CityWide which indicate that there has been an 84% drop in recruitment for community employment schemes. Some of the schemes in my area are seriously stretched and are talking about reducing the services they can offer. Some of the child care facilities are reducing the numbers they can cater for. Is the drop in recruitment happening across the board?

The Kilbarrack coast community programme has been very successful in dealing with literacy issues, IT training support and so forth, but the cuts to the materials and training grant has badly affected it.

A number of other schemes have had the same type of recognition from the State, through Aontas for example, but no longer have money available. There has been a promise from officials that the VEC will, at some stage, get its act together and begin to deliver literacy and IT support schemes. In the meantime, what is the effect on CE schemes?

On page 4 of his presentation, Mr. O'Connor says the total estimated individual benefits from qualification awards, that is, the substantial FETAC awards that participants have got over the years, was worth €12.5 million in 2008. Where does that figure comes from? Does it refer to the benefit to society as a whole? If people's ability to progress through CE, come out with an award and get into work is restricted, what would be the effect of that on the figure of €12.5 million?