Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 48: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if he will provide details on his plans to extend the rural social scheme and the community services programme at no additional cost; the number of new places that will be provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40183/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Activation and support for those who are unemployed is a key priority for Government. Earlier this year, the Taoiseach announced a number of changes to improve the delivery of employment, training and community services to the public by bringing together related responsibilities in these areas. These changes included the restructuring of departmental responsibilities with the objective of providing a streamlined response to the income support and job search needs of people who are unemployed.

In this context, my Department is devising proposals for the development of new initiatives based on the rural social scheme and the community services programme which will offer social employment opportunities. This new initiative will be an important element in the development and delivery of employment and community services and will aim to provide quality work opportunities to the unemployed and beneficial outcomes to the community. A key feature of the new scheme will be to provide a new activation route that will support unemployed people in remaining job-ready for re-entry to employment as the economic environment improves.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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In the summer during the Dáil recess, the Minister announced that he would create 10,000 to 15,000 community scheme places. The rural social scheme has worked very well and while I would like to see more places on that scheme, it would only deal with a certain section of society. How does the Minister propose to get the other 300,000 people on to community schemes such that there is no extra cost to the State?

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Approximately 270,000 people are getting payment for a full week; in other words, many people on the live register are working part-time. It is intended to focus particularly on people on jobseeker's allowance who have been in receipt of unemployment payment for more than a year. It will be done using the model of the rural social scheme but extending eligibility to people who have been on long-term jobseeker's allowance; in other words, it will take away the requirement to be either a fisherman or a farmer. It seems to be the most efficient and simplest way to do it. It will require an extension of the scheme into the cities where there is serious unemployment as well as in rural areas and I hope to be able to roll it out in the near future.

However, it must be linked to the other part, which is an employment action plan. The idea is to identify the people eligible for a scheme and to get agreement to provide their names to the various groups that would be organising the schemes and then to allow them to provide the employment. Obviously, those who are not available to go on a scheme, including those who do not respond to employment action programmes, will be intensively interviewed. People who do not turn up for interviews after two requests without some valid excuse will have their payments suspended. We cannot have people available for work and actively seeking work, but unavailable for interview when asked to do so.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Will this be compulsory? We do not want unemployed accountants and doctors asked to go out and clean the streets, which would be a very unfair way to get people off social welfare and I hope this scheme will not do so. When people lose their jobs and go to their local social welfare office, they are advised of their entitlements, but are not told of the training or job opportunities available and how they can get retrained. When will we have a one-stop shop so that they do not need to go all over the place to get the information? What plans does the Department have to develop such a solution?

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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There are two questions there. I said that we would make the names available to the various community groups. The Deputy has been working with the community sector for long enough to know that a community group will try to place people in jobs that suit them. I am astounded that the question of whether community groups would force people with qualifications to do jobs that do not suit them keeps coming up; I have never come across a community group that would do that. However, it will be mandatory for an accountant on the dole or a doctor on jobseeker's allowance who is called for interview to attend that interview. Obviously, the first avenue for people attending interview will be to try to get them into productive employment; the second avenue is training or education; and the third avenue would be a scheme job. It is absolutely fair to say that people will be placed in occupations that would be suitable for them. The level of community work goes way beyond trimming the hedges on the side of the road - important and all as that is. I have a list of all the different community work jobs, which is considerably wider than that. It is very degrading of community work to continually refer just to trimming of hedges.

I hope the Deputy will facilitate this happening. As he knows, I will shortly introduce a Bill, which I hope to enact before Christmas, to facilitate the final transfer of responsibility for FÁS to my Department. The purpose of that transfer is to do precisely what the Deputy suggests. In future when people go into an employment exchange they will also be activated in the same place in a seamless service. I look forward to the Deputy's full co-operation in getting the Bill through quickly so that we can move early in the new year on that.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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We will wait until we have seen the Bill.