Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Currently, 1,143 community employment schemes are in operation nationally, with 23,300 place, 22,000 participants and 1,300 full-time equivalent supervisor posts. The budgeted number of places for participants and supervisors in 2012 will be the same as in 2011. The overall estimated budget for community employment will be in excess of €315 million for 2012.

Community employment schemes are part of a broad range of employment supports that will cost €977 million in 2012, compared to €882 million in 2011. This increase of €95 million against a backdrop of significant fiscal consolidation underlines the Government's commitment to enhancing support for employment. The process of reviewing the schemes is well advanced and each scheme has been communicated with and met by an official of my Department. The outcomes of these meetings are now being examined on a regional basis with a view to identifying funding requirements and the savings that can be achieved within the limits set down by the Department. The analysis of these outcomes will form the basis of the review findings which will be available from the end of March. Due to the widespread consultation process it is not possible to make any recommendations or decisions until the process is completed.

Initial feedback is that the additional flexibility of €1,000 provided by my Department has helped to ease the situation. There is a growing realisation that some reduction is necessary given the budgetary constraints and this is generally accepted in principle. A series of meetings is taking place at national level with representative bodies in regard to coming up with solutions as to how savings can be gained within the programme. Further such meetings are planned.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

The financial review is due to be completed by the end of March 2012. In the normal course of events in any one year a number of community employment projects may close. This can be for a variety of reasons, including amalgamation of schemes. When this situation does arise all efforts are made to ensure that the participants transfer to other projects in their own communities or areas. The same applies to supervisors who are facilitated in transferring to community employment or other employment programmes in their areas. In many situations new sponsors will emerge to continue the delivery of the services for the community.

No decisions in regard to the closing of CE schemes will be made until the financial review process is completed and all options are considered. There is also a review of employment support programmes, which include community employment. Stakeholders are also being consulted as part of this review process. This review will also be completed by the end of March 2012. These reviews and subsequent reports at both the individual CE scheme level and at the macro level will provide good evidence on which to base future policy and ensure the most appropriate support for participants and the services provided to the community and voluntary sector.

I assure the House of my full appreciation of the value of CE schemes locally. Our focus is now on achieving improved outcomes both in terms of service provided at local level and job progression for CE participants.

See this speech in context