Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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7. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the community employment scheme has been subject to programme evaluation; if there are plans for its evolution; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25413/24]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Bruton sends his apologies. He wants to ask Minister whether the community employment scheme has been subject to programme evaluation, if there are plans for its evolution and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I acknowledge the important role community employment schemes play in providing valuable opportunities to participants and in supporting the delivery of key services to local communities across the country.

I can confirm that in March the OECD published an impact evaluation of Ireland's active labour market programmes for long-term unemployed people finding positive labour market impacts for both the community employment and Tús programmes. The evaluation was carried out by the OECD in partnership with the European Commission's Joint Research Centre and staff from the Department of Social Protection. In undertaking the review, the researchers accessed a wide range of administrative data on the employment schemes and engaged with a range of key stakeholders to gain a real understanding of the impact of these programmes on participants and local communities.

The main findings of the impact evaluation are that community employment and Tús have a positive impact on employment and the earnings of scheme participants in the longer term, in particular for older participants in respect of community employment and for younger participants in respect of Tús. The evaluation also found that older participants are less likely to have recourse to disability payments.

The evaluation made a number of recommendations on how the Department can adapt these programmes to better support current and future participants. These are under active consideration in the context of the delivery of the commitments in the Pathways to Work strategy, which has the fundamental aim of helping people who are unemployed or face barriers to the labour market to get a job.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. Community employment schemes have always been perceived as a labour market activation instrument. Is its value in supporting valuable social enterprise now a more dominant source of its benefits, particularly as we have close to full employment? The work done by community employment schemes in communities is very valuable. Should we be looking at ways of encouraging more people to take up these roles? There are limits as to how long they can stay in these roles. I understand that older people can stay on longer. Has any consideration being given to increasing the amount people are paid? I understand it is €27.50 per week extra on top of the social welfare payment which they get anyway. Perhaps it is time to improve this. Does the Minister of State agree that many schemes are finding it difficult to recruit people? They just cannot get them. This is having an impact on social enterprises throughout the country.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I thank Deputy Stanton. From my point of view I see the benefit of community employment as threefold. It supports many very important community services. As I have said, and as the OECD has said, it helps bridge the gap between the labour market and people who have found it difficult to break into it. It also has a very important social inclusion aspect for many individuals who access it. It helps them to feel part of the community and part of something important. We have come across many extraordinary examples of how community employment has helped people through very difficult times in their lives. It is not just about jobs. It is about recovering a sense of place and belonging and a direction in life. We are at full employment and there are a lot of vacancies. There are groups of people who still find it difficult to access the labour market and there are jobs. This has been laid bare quite a bit. We are trying to see how we can enhance some of the community employment supports to attract them into the labour market and make community employment successful for them also.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I acknowledge the great work done by the Government. We are beyond full employment. This is what I have been hearing recently. I have heard commentators use this phrase. As communities find it difficult to recruit new community employment candidates to sustain their work, do we need to think differently about the role? Do we need to think about it in a different way, potentially with longer-term placements as an outlet for social prescribing to engage talent not deemed part of the labour force? Perhaps we could increase the age. All of us are living longer and we are fitter. When people reach the age of 66 very often they can contribute to their community but they are not allowed to take part in community employment schemes. We know what an issue loneliness is. I understand the UK has a Minister for loneliness.

I recently saw reports about how Ireland has one of the highest rates of loneliness in the world. Perhaps by increasing the age limit and allowing those beyond pension age to take part in CE schemes, it would allow people to get involved and would provide the workers that are needed, seeing as the Minister of State has acknowledged there is a shortage of workers.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I agree very much agree with the previous speaker about this valuable scheme. It has helped many people to readjust to situations that face them at a particularly difficult time. It has helped local voluntary organisations tremendously at a time when it has been quite difficult to get sufficient staff to meet their requirements. Anything that can be done to make the scheme more attractive and accessible from the point of view of extended years of service in a particular project, whatever the case may be, would be greatly appreciated by voluntary organisations all over the country and also by the recipients.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputies. It is important to say that this year is 30 years since CE was first started. The impact it has had on Ireland over those 30 years has been extraordinary. They are often very low profile but there are 800 CE schemes around the country. We have some of the best community people working on them and they are doing some extraordinary things for people who need a hand up.

We have full employment but, as I said, there are groups that we have not reached yet. Some particularly good schemes have been focused on Travellers. Up in my own direction in Balbriggan there is a Roma-specific CE scheme. I would like to see more of them and we have potential for some more of them around the country. Unemployment rates among Travellers and Roma are very high. We have had some good examples of tailored CE schemes that can reach out to them and bridge that gap we have spoken about. I also want to acknowledge the DSP staff who have assisted in the referral process, particularly over the last year when it has been difficult to get referrals. We have actually kept CE figures steady in placements over the past 12 months. That is a significant achievement in itself when there are a lot of jobs out there.