Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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Like most Members, I welcomed the announcement last December of the new Momentum programme, which will provide 6,500 new education and training places for jobseekers. These places are correctly and specifically targeted at the long-term unemployed. Projects will be in the expanding employment areas of ICT, digital media, health care and social services, the green economy, food processing and sales and marketing. Moreover, I am pleased that a substantial number of these opportunities will be provided in my constituency of Louth. Importantly, these programmes are designed to match the needs of employers and provide those who have been out of work for a long time with a golden opportunity to optimise their chances of getting back into the workplace. As the Minister of State is aware, applicants must have been signing on for 12 months or longer and to be seeking employment actively. I have examined the eligibility criteria laid down by the Department because I recently was made aware of a case in which a man, whose mother passed away recently, was told he was ineligible to apply for a place on the Momentum programme because he had only been signing on for six months. Prior to that, he has spent two years acting as a carer to his mother and was recognised by the State by way of a carer's payment.

To date, all other labour activation schemes have allowed applicants to count time spent as a carer in lieu of time signing on in respect of the consideration for training. The Momentum programme is the first to break with this precedent. This appears to have been a policy decision taken within the Department that creates a highly dangerous and divisive principle. While there is much discussion and debate on the significant State support provided for carers, people do not appear to be overly concerned about what happens to carers when they are about to get back to the workforce when their caring duties come to an end, often in sad circumstances. No State jobs or training programme should be allowed to discriminate against a citizen who, through his or her family obligations and love for his or her family members, was obliged to take time out of the workforce to care for an unwell relative. It appears to be inherently unfair that someone should be penalised for leaving the workforce to care for a loved one and then be forced to sit on the live register for 12 months before being allowed access to the Momentum programme. I am anxious to establish whether the Minister for Social Protection will take steps to reverse this divisive and arguably discriminatory policy decision and bring the Momentum programme into line with other labour market activation schemes, which allow time spent in receipt of carer's allowance to count in respect of access to the suite of labour market activation and training measures provided by the Government.

John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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In reply to Deputy Nash, an undertaking was given in the programme for Government to introduce a more focused approach to how the State engages with and supports the unemployed to get back into the workforce. Pathways to Work, the Government's policy statement on labour market activation, sets out how the Government intends to do this and is a key element of the Government's strategy to get Ireland working again. The Pathways to Work policy statement has five strands, namely, more regular and ongoing engagement with people who are unemployed, greater targeting of activation places and opportunities, incentivising the take-up of opportunities, incentivising employers to provide more jobs for people who are unemployed and reforming institutions to deliver better services to people who are unemployed. Implementation of these five strands will ensure that people who are unemployed will be given the opportunity to acquire suitable skills or qualifications or both. The second strand commits to greater targeting of activation places and opportunities. Given limited public resources, it is essential that activation measures are targeted. The long-term unemployed in particular must be a focus for interventions.

The Momentum initiative, to which the Deputy referred, provides free education and training projects for 6,500 long-term unemployed jobseekers. The programmes will include on-the-job training in the form of work experience modules, as well as the development of the workplace skills required to obtain and retain employment. The initiative is administered by FÁS and funded by the Department of Education and Skills through the European Social Fund-supported labour market education and training fund, LMETF. In line with the commitments given in the Pathways to Work policy statement, eligibility for the Momentum initiative is targeted at the long-term unemployed and a participant must meet the following criteria, namely, be unemployed and on the live register for 12 months, that is, 312 days, or longer and be in receipt of jobseeker's allowance or benefit from the Department of Social Protection or credited contributions for 12 months or longer and be actively seeking work. However, a person who was unemployed for 12 months in the previous 18 months may be considered eligible for the initiative. Therefore, a person who was engaged in temporary or seasonal work or who was temporarily in receipt of a carer's payment, but was otherwise on the live register during that 18-month period, may qualify. This may satisfy some of the Deputy's concerns. Periods spent on other activation schemes, such as, for example, the back to education allowance, community employment schemes or Tús may count towards meeting the eligibility requirements for the Momentum programme, provided the person has completed the scheme or programme and is on the live register.

Access to Momentum courses is strictly through referral from the Department. Case officers must determine suitability and agree the most suitable course for a person to progress him or her on his or her pathway to employment. While in general, receipt of a carer's allowance does not satisfy the criteria for this initiative, there is a wide range of other activation supports available to those in receipt of carer's payment. It should also be noted that the Momentum initiative only represents a small percentage of the more than 450,000 State-funded places provided in further education, higher education and training. These include 75,000 FÁS training places in 2012, 180,000 further education places and 162,000 full-time higher education places provided through universities and institutes of technology. In addition, the State provides more than 40,000 training places, including 8,000 for the unemployed, in partnership with private employers, as well as more than 6,000 Springboard places in 2012, comprising free part-time higher education, with additional places to be announced for this year.

In line with Pathways to Work commitments, the long-term unemployed are a particular focus for interventions and the Momentum initiative is, therefore, exclusively targeted at this cohort.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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I am not necessarily consoled by the Minister of State's comments on the treatment of those who have had caring duties for a considerable period and who find they are not treated the same as other people who are technically long-term unemployed, at least in the context of the Momentum scheme. The scheme creates a gilt-edged opportunity for many long-term unemployed people to access the labour market and get genuine opportunities for jobs. It is important that we target such an approach.

The Minister of State is correct that it is only appropriate that the long-term unemployed are specifically targeted, which is the focus of Pathways to Work. Nevertheless, there is an imbalance, and I wish to point out the dangerous precedent inherent in this policy decision to exclude some people who have been in receipt of carer's allowance for a long period and not consider them as essentially being on the live register for 12 months. I accept there are complexities and I fear hundreds of people may be in the circumstances I describe. It is a point of principle from which we cannot move, and we should not put such a line in the sand with regard to treating carers differently to other social welfare recipients. The Government should be conscious of that.

We are all conscious that there are approximately 450,000 State-funded training places, with specific targeting of those who are long-term unemployed. We must examine the definition of "long-term unemployed" in the context of this programme and we should recognise the function which carers play in society. When that function comes to an end, often in tragic and difficult circumstances, carers should be fast-tracked into training schemes if they wish to partake, and they should be fast-tracked into employment to ensure we recognise the role played by carers in society. When caring duties end, these people should have optimum opportunities to train and access gainful employment. That is important, particularly for carers who may find it difficult to adapt when the caring role concludes and especially if those people have been out of the direct labour force for some time.

John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I assure Deputy Nash that I will bring his concerns to the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, as he has raised important points. Some flexibility already exists within the initiative whereby a person who was temporarily in receipt of a carer's payment but was otherwise on the live register during the previous 18 months may be considered for the Momentum initiative, and there is a certain discretion in that respect. The focus of the initiative must remain the long-term unemployed, regardless of the cost of extension to other groups. The initiative is specifically targeted at the long-term unemployed as committed in the Pathways to Work programme. Extension of the initiative to those who are not long-term unemployed would be counter to the objectives of the programme.

A carer's allowance is payable to customers who are caring for a person on a full-time basis: carers cannot be employed or self-employed outside the home for more than 15 hours per week. However, recipients of a carer's payment may participate in a range of part-time training or education programmes, provided it does not conflict with their commitment to their caring duties. For carers who wish to retrain in anticipation of seeking employment when their caring duties cease, there is a range of training and education places and supports available. The Department of Education and Skills provides 75,000 training places through FÁS, with delivery during the day, evening, on-line and blended in a fashion that combines on-line learning and workshops. Part-time courses are also available through the vocational education committees under the back to education initiative. Some of these courses would be available to carers while others are accessible for people previously engaged in caring. Carers are also eligible for grant-aided accredited training through the Department's technical employment support grant fund.