Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Hayes for raising this issue. He has made many interesting points about the eligibility of self-employed persons to participate in certain schemes and I will certainly bring his views to the attention of my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton. I will initially read the script provided by her Department to set the matter in context.

In the programme for Government an undertaking was given to introduce a more focused approach to how the State engages with and supports the unemployed in getting back into the workplace. Pathways to Work, the Government's policy statement on labour market activation, sets out how the Government intends to do this and is a key element of the Government's strategy to get Ireland working again. Pathways to Work has five strands: more regular and ongoing engagement with people who are unemployed, greater targeting of activation places and opportunities, incentivising the take-up of opportunities, incentivising employers to provide more jobs for people who are unemployed, and reforming institutions to deliver better services to people who are unemployed. The implementation of these five strands will ensure that people who are unemployed will be given the opportunity to acquire suitable skills and qualifications. The second strand commits to a greater targeting of activation places and opportunities. Given the limited public resources, it is essential that activation measures are targeted. The long-term unemployed in particular must be a focus for interventions. The Momentum initiative provides free education and training projects for up to 6,500 long-term unemployed people. The programmes will include on-the-job training in the form of work experience modules as well as the development of workplace skills required to obtain and retain employment. The initiative is administered by FÁS and funded by the Department of Education and Skills through the national training fund, NTF, and co-financed by the European Social Fund, ESF.

In line with the commitments made in Pathways to Work, eligibility for the Momentum initiative is targeted towards the long-term unemployed. In particular, applicants must meet the following criteria: they must been unemployed and on the live register for 12 months, 312 days, or longer; they must be in receipt of jobseeker's allowance or benefit from the Department of Social Protection or have credited contributions for 12 months or longer; and they must be actively seeking work. A person who was unemployed for 12 of the previous 18 months may be considered eligible for the initiative; therefore, a person who was engaged in temporary self-employment but was otherwise on the live register for 12 months during that 18-month period may qualify. A person who was previously self-employed may apply for a means-tested jobseeker's allowance payment if he or she does not qualify for a jobseeker's benefit payment.

Access to Momentum courses is strictly through referral from the Department. Case officers must determine suitability and agree the most suitable course for a person to progress on the pathway to employment. The Momentum initiative represents only a small percentage of the 450,000 State-funded places provided in 2012 in further education, higher education and training: 75,000 FÁS training places in 2012; 180,000 further education places; 162,000 full-time higher education places through universities and institutes of technology across the country; more than 40,000 training places through Skillnets, including 8,000 for the unemployed in partnership with private employers; and more than 6,000 free part-time higher education places in 2012 under Springboard, with additional places to be announced this year. Eligibility for many of these interventions is not contingent on the receipt of a social welfare payment or on signing for credit contributions. In line with the commitments in Pathways to Work, the long-term unemployed associated with the live register are a particular focus of this initiative.

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