Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Community employment schemes offer people significant opportunities in terms of experience and getting back to work and they also offer a considerable benefit to the communities in which they are located in terms of the services they provide. It has been drawn to my attention by people involved in scheme, both at administrative level and participants in it that the manner in which CE schemes are being managed currently is making it very difficult to match up those offering positions with people who want to fill the positions. The main difficulty is the manner in which the positions are advertised and in particular the manner in which applicants are to apply.

It is my view that the changes introduced in recent years fail to understand the nature and value of community employment schemes. They undermine the intended outcome, in particular in terms of giving people work experience, reintroducing people to work, and adding to the value of community projects and associations who find excellent uses for people on the schemes, that are of value to both employee and employer.

In particular, I draw attention to the fact that all scheme supervisors must now advertise each position that becomes available on the Intreo website. Any applicant interested in a position, who wants to take part in a community employment scheme must register with Intreo and apply online for each position. While generally there is a certain sense to online advertisement of positions in terms of transparency the specific context of the scheme has to be taken into account. My concern, which is shared by many CE supervisors, is that many of the people who would potentially benefit from community employment schemes, who might have been out of employment for a considerable period, will not register or apply and will not be aware of the opportunity which may exist. The reality is that a considerable proportion of people who seek employment in a community employment scheme have problems with literacy skills or have limited IT skills. CE schemes give people the opportunity to return to work, perhaps after a period out of work, and to gain skills and experience. That is invaluable to them and allows them to get further work.

The work involved in CE schemes is extraordinary. Requiring applicants to register in the manner I outlined is a hurdle which will put many people off applying for schemes, and will also mean that they are unaware of the opportunities that exists. That is discrimination against people without the necessary literacy skills, and potentially against older people. Just as significantly, many supervisors are finding that very few are registering or applying online, and because they are restricted in terms of other ways to get the word out, positions are going unfilled for extended periods, which undermines the projects and the work they do. I urge the Minister to give the issue serious consideration and to change the system so that the CE scheme is not allowed to be downgraded or undermined, that people can continue to benefit, and the schemes can find people who want to be involved. We should take every opportunity to join up those who wish to work, and those who wish to employ them and not to make it harder, as has been the case in recent times.

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