Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 4: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the progress that has been made in the ongoing review of community employment schemes; when the reviews are due to report; if any CE schemes will be closed as a result; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11949/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Currently, 1,143 community employment schemes are in operation nationally, with 23,300 place, 22,000 participants and 1,300 full-time equivalent supervisor posts. The budgeted number of places for participants and supervisors in 2012 will be the same as in 2011. The overall estimated budget for community employment will be in excess of €315 million for 2012.

Community employment schemes are part of a broad range of employment supports that will cost €977 million in 2012, compared to €882 million in 2011. This increase of €95 million against a backdrop of significant fiscal consolidation underlines the Government's commitment to enhancing support for employment. The process of reviewing the schemes is well advanced and each scheme has been communicated with and met by an official of my Department. The outcomes of these meetings are now being examined on a regional basis with a view to identifying funding requirements and the savings that can be achieved within the limits set down by the Department. The analysis of these outcomes will form the basis of the review findings which will be available from the end of March. Due to the widespread consultation process it is not possible to make any recommendations or decisions until the process is completed.

Initial feedback is that the additional flexibility of €1,000 provided by my Department has helped to ease the situation. There is a growing realisation that some reduction is necessary given the budgetary constraints and this is generally accepted in principle. A series of meetings is taking place at national level with representative bodies in regard to coming up with solutions as to how savings can be gained within the programme. Further such meetings are planned.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

The financial review is due to be completed by the end of March 2012. In the normal course of events in any one year a number of community employment projects may close. This can be for a variety of reasons, including amalgamation of schemes. When this situation does arise all efforts are made to ensure that the participants transfer to other projects in their own communities or areas. The same applies to supervisors who are facilitated in transferring to community employment or other employment programmes in their areas. In many situations new sponsors will emerge to continue the delivery of the services for the community.

No decisions in regard to the closing of CE schemes will be made until the financial review process is completed and all options are considered. There is also a review of employment support programmes, which include community employment. Stakeholders are also being consulted as part of this review process. This review will also be completed by the end of March 2012. These reviews and subsequent reports at both the individual CE scheme level and at the macro level will provide good evidence on which to base future policy and ensure the most appropriate support for participants and the services provided to the community and voluntary sector.

I assure the House of my full appreciation of the value of CE schemes locally. Our focus is now on achieving improved outcomes both in terms of service provided at local level and job progression for CE participants.

Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister indicated that €360 million was spent on community employment schemes in 2011 but the provision in the budget is €315 million. Where a scheme can make the case for funding before the process has been completed, the cut will be €500. She cannot, therefore, claim that she is committing the same amount as last year.

Was the review group consulted on the Pathways to Work scheme launched last week in light of its impact on community employment schemes? Was the Minister aware of the plans to reform community employment schemes contained in the Pathways to Work document in advance of the announcement of cuts to these schemes in the budget?

It appears the Minister may be considering the emphasis in CE schemes away from job creation towards a broader social role.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I have discussed this on a number of occasions with the Deputies present in the House. Responsibility for CE schemes transferred to the Department of Social Protection on 1 January and the review within the Department of Social Protection could commence only at that point. There was a commitment to two reviews, both of which are under way and which should be completed by the end of March. The Deputy referred to the reduction in the overall budget, but that is in the context of my Department's employment support budget increasing by €95 million. In addition an extra €20 million is being provided to the Department of Education and Skills for training initiatives. We need to consider how we can best provide CE schemes where there is an element of training. In some schemes there is a very strong training content and in other schemes the training element simply may be at the beginning of a person's participation and may not continue in the years thereafter.

Some fascinating information is available and becoming available on CE schemes. While I do not want to prejudge the outcome of the review, in some schemes they are paying very high rents and in other schemes they have significant costs in areas such as insurance and audit. In some of those schemes it would be possible to make significant savings.

Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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That €1,500 comprises a training and materials grant. The Minister has said that the training budget in her Department has increased and this might compensate for the gap I have identified.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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It is the overall employment support budget.

Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister is suggesting she has manoeuvrability to compensate.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Some.

Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Would it not be wiser for the Minister to complete the review, identify the savings to which she alludes, and apply that in the context of next year's budget while allowing these schemes to get the training and materials grant for which they would have budgeted towards the end of last year to cater for their schemes in this year? Is it open to the Minister to exercise that option in this year?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Responsibility for the CE schemes transferred to the Department of Social Protection along with the FÁS employment services. I am very committed to the role of CE schemes. As I have said previously, they provide very valuable social services. We need to consider the quality of experience people gain on the schemes. We must also seek value for money. As the Deputy is aware all areas of my Department have been targeted for savings. However, the troika takes a detailed interest in what one might call the activation and employment support policies of the Department of Social Protection. I am anxious that in the conversations with the troika we get recognition of the important social aspect of the schemes for communities. As the Deputy is aware several reviews of CE have been conducted. CE is principally identified as an employment activation measure with the hope of a person completing a CE scheme and shortly afterwards getting a job external from the CE scheme. All the studies have shown - all of us would know this from our personal experience - that depending on the type of scheme, that may not happen. The literature on CE schemes regards them as a simple activation measure. Given that the responsibility for the schemes has transferred to my Department, we should acknowledge their social role and build it into the assessment of the schemes. Some schemes or elements of some schemes constitute social employment, which is very valuable. However, that can be very different from a pure labour activation role. When the review is concluded and as we get the data, that is one of the issues we will examine very closely.