Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I remember raising concerns with regard to CE and the number of vacancies when there were 1,200, 1,300 and 1,400 vacancies on CE schemes posted online. Today, there are more than 3,600. It is an excellent scheme, as the Minister of State knows. I know he engages with the organisers, which is really important, but, at the end of the day, what has been announced will not go far enough when we have more than 3,600 vacancies and that figure is rising. We really need to go further if those vacancies are to be filled. I met with representatives of a CE scheme last week. There should be 27 participants on the scheme. There are 16. If the rules in respect of eligibility in particular do not change, it will be left with nine. It is not getting referrals from the Department and it is struggling to fill its places. That is seen right across the board. There is also a major issue with Department referrals. In the previous announcement of changes, it was said that referrals would be ramped up. Will the Minister of State give us an update on referrals from the Department, because it is a really important issue?

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