John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I assure Deputy Nash that I will bring his concerns to the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, as he has raised important points. Some flexibility already exists within the initiative whereby a person who was temporarily in receipt of a carer's payment but was otherwise on the live register during the previous 18 months may be considered for the Momentum initiative, and there is a certain discretion in that respect. The focus of the initiative must remain the long-term unemployed, regardless of the cost of extension to other groups. The initiative is specifically targeted at the long-term unemployed as committed in the Pathways to Work programme. Extension of the initiative to those who are not long-term unemployed would be counter to the objectives of the programme.

A carer's allowance is payable to customers who are caring for a person on a full-time basis: carers cannot be employed or self-employed outside the home for more than 15 hours per week. However, recipients of a carer's payment may participate in a range of part-time training or education programmes, provided it does not conflict with their commitment to their caring duties. For carers who wish to retrain in anticipation of seeking employment when their caring duties cease, there is a range of training and education places and supports available. The Department of Education and Skills provides 75,000 training places through FÁS, with delivery during the day, evening, on-line and blended in a fashion that combines on-line learning and workshops. Part-time courses are also available through the vocational education committees under the back to education initiative. Some of these courses would be available to carers while others are accessible for people previously engaged in caring. Carers are also eligible for grant-aided accredited training through the Department's technical employment support grant fund.

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