Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, commenced again in 2015. I announced that €190 million over five years had been secured, which is a substantial amount of money. We are trying to target disadvantage and the people who have been left behind. The unemployment rate has come down from 15% to under 5%. Now we need to target others. Recently, I was in Limerick where I met groups and individuals who had been involved in SICAP. They were all delighted with it and the way the spoke about it was notable. Some of them are now creating jobs and a lot of them are working. What we intend to do with the new programme is to target those who need it. We are trying to have individual programmes to accommodate persons who have really been left behind because of the recession and not been able to get into the workplace. Some of them need to be reskilled and educated, while others need specific programmes to help them. I am very pleased with SICAP and delighted with the €190 million to be made available over the next five years. I hope the level of employment will continue to increase and that more participants in the programmes will find or create jobs and that the funding we will have available will be used to support those in disadvantaged areas. SICAP will run from 2018 to 2022. Speaking to people on the ground who administer the programme, they are pleased. Of course, we would like to have more - that is always the case, no matter what the scheme - but I am pleased with the funding provided. As the economy grows and the number of employment opportunities begins to rise, it is only right that we target those who need the programme.