Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

As announced in the Pathways to Work programme, one of the five strands will provide greater targeting of activation places and opportunities for job seekers, especially those who are more than one year unemployed. My Department will continue to provide supports in the form of work experience and training through the community and voluntary sectors. There are 85,650 places through a variety of schemes of which 22,300 are community employment.

Community employment will play a critical role in this. The Government is determined that those who are unemployed will be assisted with the appropriate advice, training and work experience to enable them to take advantage of new job opportunities as the economy recovers. Community employment helps people who are out of work for one year or longer to maintain contact with local employment opportunities and to avail of training so that they can get these jobs when they arise. At the same time the programme helps the local community and reduces the impact of long-term unemployment on individuals and their families.

Under Pathways to Work I am prioritising one third of the places on CE schemes towards a shorter, more focused active labour market intervention. This will be undertaken in conjunction with the wider review of community employment schemes currently under way by officials from my Department. The CE part-time integration option of one year is likely to form the basis for this approach. The FÁS system has been using this system already. The option offers an applicant who is more than one year unemployed the opportunity to participate on CE for one year and to avail of training that can enhance their chances of employment. I expect that this period on CE will have a more intense labour market focus by both the scheme sponsor and the individual job seeker towards gaining employment.

CE participants are employed for 19.5 hours per week. Therefore, the option is open to them to participate in part-time courses provided by the VEC and FÁS. Progression to further education and training to obtain major awards will continue to be a key progression route for participants. In addition, participants have a range of education and training programmes available to them from the FÁS training side - which will become SOLAS - and the VECs, including evening courses during and after they leave CE.

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