Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is why I have made provision in the budget for 10,000 extra activation places, consisting of 3,000 on JobBridge, 2,500 on Tús, 3,000 in the local authorities and 2,000 in CE schemes.

When we discussed CE schemes this time last year the Deputies opposite all claimed they would close down and the supervisors would lose their jobs. We are in fact increasing the number of places. I accept these changes have to be worked through and I respect the right of Deputies to examine them minutely but they will open up opportunities for people, particularly lone parents, to become financially independent.

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