Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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6. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will cease the Gateway programme, on the grounds that it will force unemployed persons to work 19.5 hours in return for an extra €20 per week, which will not even cover the cost of getting to work, and will mean increased economic hardship and an erosion of jobs. [10438/14]

Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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This question relates to the Gateway programme. People are now expected to work for nothing. They are being frog-marched to collect litter or cut the grass for local authorities. If they refuse to do so, their dole payments will be cut and if they take on the work, they will end up poorer because it will not even pay them to go to work. I ask the Minister to abandon the scheme as it is undermining local authority jobs and simply massaging the dole figures.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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That is the Deputy's view. Deputies on all sides of the House have asked me to increase the number of work opportunities for people who have been locked out of employment by the difficulties in the economy and desperately want to get back to work. If that is not immediately possible, they want to participate and contribute to their community through community employment and Tús schemes. The Gateway programme is part of a suite of initiatives offered by the Department of Social Protection which are designed to bridge the gap between unemployment and re-entry into the workforce. A budget of €19 million has been earmarked for the initiative in 2014.

Deputies on all sides of the House, including Deputy Clare Daly perhaps, have praised and are fully aware of the positive benefits of schemes such as the community employment scheme, Tús and the rural social scheme for both participants and the services they deliver to communities around the country. Participation promotes a sense of well-being.

I am constantly asked by people if they can extend their participation in schemes because they really enjoy contributing to their local community. In particular, I highlight the personal benefits to the jobseeker of being able to engage in worthwhile work in the community. Gateway is modelled on these successful schemes, with the same level of pay and similar conditions at up to 19.5 hours per week. The ambition of the Government is that Gateway will build on these positive initiatives using the quality working environment, resources and opportunities available to county and city councils.

Recently there was an increase of 61,000 in people at work and we want more of the jobs becoming available to go to people who are long-term unemployed. They must find bridges and gateways back to work.

Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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This question specifically concerns Gateway rather than the other initiatives which we can deal with at another time. The idea that people who are unemployed do not currently contribute to their community is an insult and this does not provide an opportunity for people locked out of work. What personal benefit could there be for somebody to be decked out in a high-visibility jacket in order to pick up litter when that person ends up poorer than when he or she got up for work that morning? People want a job and by implementing this, the Government is undermining local authority jobs. There were 3,000 retirements from local authorities in the past year and the Government, in essence, is replacing those people with this programme. As a result, young people leaving school are being denied an opportunity to get what was once a permanent and pensionable job in the local authority.

There is an example in the Minister's area of Fingal County Council, where the staff have been reduced by 20% over a number of years. As a result of this hollowing out of authorities because of the public sector recruitment embargo, from 1,300 staff there are now 21 people employed under age 30. That is consequent lunacy of a public sector recruitment embargo and the Government is patching the problem with this scheme, which is an insult to jobseekers and jobs.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I beg to disagree with the Deputy and I am not sure she fully understands the scheme. I know people from the Deputy's side of the House have heavily praised community employment and Tús while seeking more places. The terms and conditions are exactly the same.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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They are not.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I do not understand why somebody like the Deputy would not correctly praise community employment for the opportunity it gives for people to participate in the community and for the services it helps to provide for the community. We should be clear that Gateway aims to improve the employability and work-readiness of participants. This can be done by providing good quality work opportunities with good employers in structured environments. That is the type of scenario available in county councils around the country.

Existing work skills can be put into practice and during placements we want to see new skills being developed to enable progression. The aim of this is to help people get back to work. In Ireland and across the world, if a person goes to an interview having been out of work for one, two, three or four years, the chances of a person being successful are much diminished relative to cases where a person has been involved in the likes of education and training. We provide tens of thousands of places in this regard, including those in new courses such as Momentum and Springboard. Gateway is a small scheme and over a period there will be approximately 3,000 people getting an opportunity to progress back to work through employment with a local authority for 19 hours per week on the same terms and conditions as community employment. The people in the Opposition are always seeking more of that.

Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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The Minister is again refusing to deal with the question. People need a job if they are to get back to work. It is not that there is something wrong with people or there is a defect which means they must be retrained through picking up litter for a county council. These people need jobs. Some of these people may be in a later life after 25 or 30 years working, so at 50 they may find themselves unemployed for two years for example, despite being a highly skilled craftsperson, and end up doing this work with a local authority. It is ludicrous to think this will make them more fit for work. The Government is hollowing out jobs in the local authorities by outsourcing jobs for craftspersons and librarians. They are being replaced with a cheap labour scam, which is scandalous. Fine Gael would do such a thing but for the Minister to stand over this action is quite shocking.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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All I can say is that I meet many people who have unfortunately lost a job or business during the recession. My aim is very clear in helping people get back to work, self-employment and the rebuilding of business. The Deputy has extensive work experience and knows that when people go to an interview after being out of work for a long time - as is the case for some unfortunate people, including those who worked during the building boom and made good money - the chances of being successful in an interview are very small unless a person has retrained, had further education, upskilled or been a participant in a programme which bridges the gap. That is the difference between somebody being long-term unemployed and getting back to work. I emphasise that this is a small scheme spread around local authorities in the country. There is a great deal of positive interest, particularly from people who, unfortunately, are long-term unemployed.