Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

To date in 2009, 67,207 redundancy claims have been lodged with my Department, a very significant increase on the levels of claims lodged in earlier years. My Department and its agencies are actively trying to stem this unwelcome increase in job losses through initiatives such as the employment subsidy scheme. Earlier this week we announced that 7,478 jobs in 453 enterprises are to receive direct support under the first round of the scheme. Companies have now committed, as part of their application to the scheme, to retaining 35,283 jobs. In addition, we announced that a second broader call for applications with extended eligibility criteria, open to both exporting and non-exporting firms, will be launched next week.

The Government has enacted several measures in response to the increasing number of redundancies. We have doubled the provision of training and work experience places managed by FÁS to more than 130,000. In addition, we have increased the national employment action plan referral capacity of FÁS employment services to 147,000 places, almost double the 2008 provision. We are determined and committed to keeping the unemployed as close to the labour market as possible during these challenging times.

That is why the Government introduced the work placement programme which is providing an initial 2,000 six-month work experience places to unemployed individuals, including graduates. We are open to taking on board some of Deputy Penrose's suggestions in this regard. The work experience participants receive under the scheme will provide portable and transferable skills in a range of areas and will increase their employability. There are currently 102 participants on the programme and a further 2,019 have registered their interest with FÁS employment services. FÁS is currently advertising 527 positions and will continue to promote the programme at local, regional and national levels.

In view of the level of interest expressed by several stakeholders in the programme, a review of eligibility criteria is currently being conducted. That review will conclude shortly and we expect it to make the work placement programme more accessible to both participants and providers.

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