Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My Department provides a range of activation supports and programmes catering for long-term unemployed jobseekers and those most distant from the labour market. These supports include the JobPath service and programmes such as community employment, CE, and Tús.

Schemes such as CE and Tús provide part-time temporary work in local communities, as a stepping-stone back to employment. However, it is important to note that these placements are not full-time sustainable jobs. Instead, they are designed to break the cycle of unemployment and maintain work readiness, thereby improving a person's opportunities of returning to the labour market or getting a job for the first time.

JobPath aims to place jobseekers into full-time sustainable employment by providing intensive individual support to help them to overcome barriers to employment. People who have completed their year-long engagement with JobPath may apply, if eligible, to participate in a work programme such as CE or Tús.

The Deputies will appreciate that the welcome reduction in the unemployment rate is a factor in recruitment to all programmes. Long-term unemployment is expected to fall further this year in line with the continuing forecasted fall in overall unemployment. Given the significant drop in the live register, it does not necessarily follow that difficulties filling vacancies would not have arisen if any of our schemes did not exist.

In the context of the economic recovery, my Department undertook a review of all the work programmes in 2016. While the primary focus was on CE, the review also looked at other employment programmes, such as Tús. Arising from the review, the Government agreed to implement changes to the qualifying conditions for CE in order to broaden access to a wider range of people. These new rules were implemented in July 2017. They included the qualifying age being reduced to 21 years. In addition, while, in general, all placements will now be for one year only, if a CE participant is undertaking training to achieve a major award, the participant's time can be extended by up to two years to allow him or her to complete the training which will enhance his or her overall employment prospects. This allows for three years continuous participation on the CE schemes. Those over the age of 55 years can also remain on CE for three years. In addition, the reference year for CE participation was moved from 2000 to 2007 which ensures that more people can re-qualify for the programme. Overall, these changes improve the way the schemes operate and will allow more people who are long-term unemployed to access them. I will continue to keep this whole area under review so that these schemes provide real and valuable support to both individuals and communities.

I acknowledge the work that those on CE schemes and their host organisations do in communities. We all know the real value of the services they provide and are appreciative of it.

The Government is mindful of the large number of work programme places involved in service delivery and other valuable services around the country. In this regard, if any scheme is experiencing particular recruitment difficulties, it should contact its local Intreo centre for assistance.

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