Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

They will meet representatives of all the community employment schemes and will go through their budgets with them to achieve two objectives. The first and most important objective is to ensure that the people who participate in community employment schemes get a quality experience, including appropriate training, which will enable them to be of service to their community and to get a job, which I acknowledge is extremely difficult in the current jobs market.

As for the second objective, I note many Members present are business people. When these schemes come under the aegis of the Department of Social Protection, it is reasonable for my Department to see their accounts and to ascertain their costs.

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