Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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Question 29: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the way she will ensure participants in the community work placement initiative TÚS have relevant training or previous experience before engaging in work such as the social care of all age groups and persons with a disability or with limited mobility. [15461/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Tús is a community work placement initiative which will provide up to 5,000 short-term, quality work opportunities for those who are unemployed for more than a year. Some €30 million has been provided in the Department's Estimates in 2011 to fund the roll-out of the initiative. This initiative is being delivered through the network of local development companies and Údarás na Gaeltachta in Gaeltacht areas. The purpose of Tús is to focus on those people who are long-term unemployed. For this reason, eligibility is at present confined to those on the live register for 12 months and in receipt of jobseeker's allowance. These provisions are to ensure a targeted approach to those currently affected by long-term unemployment. People already in employment are not eligible for these positions.

Participants will, in the first instance, be identified by the Department of Social Protection. Once selected, participants will be referred to the appropriate local development company operating in their area where their skills set, background, experience and suitability will be assessed. Local development companies will then attempt to match each participant with work placements that have been identified and evaluated as being suitable, taking account of the job profile and the participant's profile. In all work placements, some element of task related induction or training will be required. This will be provided by the staff of the local development company and the community organisation. In the particular circumstances identified by the Deputy, additional work-related training may be required. The provision of such specialist training is primarily a matter for the service provider, who is best placed to identify and provide access to the necessary training opportunities.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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As I implied in my question, I am a little concerned that people working in care provision experience many problems at present. Given the many unsavoury reports issued over recent years by various institutions, perhaps there is a lack of training and regulation in the area. It seems that people unemployed for more than a year may be forced off the welfare scheme if they do not agree to what is proposed for them. I would have thought the Minister would have regarded this as a little draconian. Does she believe people may be forced to do something they may not want to do? If we are to put them in a position where they are responsible for looking after vulnerable people in social care, this is hardly a positive approach.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I appreciate the Deputy's concern that people working in care need to be trained. People working in care generally or community organisations that deal with children or vulnerable adults must be vetted by the Garda.

The Tús scheme was designed by the former Minister for Social Protection as a kind of urban copy of the rural social scheme. Many Deputies will be aware of the latter, which has been quite successful in a targeted way in respect of activities in rural communities. The opportunity afforded in these communities should also be available in urban areas.

When I became Minister, I found that none of the 5,000 places available had been activated. In terms of the number of people looking for opportunities to be actively involved in some kind of community development or work it is important that we operate the scheme and offer those opportunities. The scheme is carefully supervised. In many areas the advertisements for supervisors have been published, supervisors have been taken on and the scheme is proceeding to take on applicants who will be engaged in the work. I will bear in mind what the Deputy said about concern but as the local development companies will be the managers of the schemes it will be their responsibility to design the work programme for people taking part in the scheme in a way that does not give rise to the concerns the Deputy has expressed.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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If there are more than 440,000 people unemployed, 300,000 of them would love to have a job. They are not avoiding work. I suspect that in terms of this scheme the view might be that there are some people who do not want to work and that if they refuse work they should be taken off the social welfare scheme. Will the Minister agree that the resources of the country are meant to be shared by all the citizens of the State and that it would be a retrograde step to cut people off welfare? With so many people looking for work surely we can work with the people who would volunteer. There are many people who would like to do this work. We could probably get many people to do it without having to force people who might not be in the right frame of work to do it.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The important strategy is to provide people with options and opportunities. I would be distressed to find a younger person in their early 20s drifting onto social welfare as a permanent condition of their life. I am aware, as is everybody, of the huge drop in employment opportunities recently and most people are looking for work but if somebody on social welfare is drifting into long-term unemployment it is important that they be given positive options in education, training and work experience. People are offered positive opportunities through the initiatives announced in the jobs programme, the various educational initiatives and initiatives such as the back to work schemes and the Tús initiative, like the rural social scheme. In terms of people refusing positive options and opportunities to engage, and those opportunities and options must be realistic for people, people who are working in low paid conditions and paying PRSI should be entitled to be reassured that those who are long-term unemployed and whom the State is assisting to get back into employment take up those options. If they refuse to engage, there are now provisions whereby somebody's social welfare payment should be cut, but that is a last resort. It is important that people engage in positive options for work training, education and work experience.