Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 3 October 2012
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection
Policy to Minimise Unemployment: Discussion with Department of Social Protection
10:40 am
Mr. Eoin Ó Seaghdha:
The budget for the disability activation project is of the order of €7 million, which is a substantial amount. It will run from now until the first quarter of 2015. It is half funded by the European Social Fund and half funded by the Department. As Ms Leonard said earlier it is being managed by Pobal on behalf of the Department. Pre-contract negotiations are ongoing and we hope to have announcements later this month on what projects have been selected and where they will go. Those projects will deal with the interaction with employers. Clearly awareness raising is a major aspect of the work we have to do.