The Minister of State with special responsibility for labour affairs, Deputy Fahey, on Monday, 11 November 2002 clarified the position on support for the community employment scheme and I am glad that he corrected some misleading stories which have been published recently. The Minister of State stated that, contrary to recent reports that the Government was set to axe 13,000 community employment places before the end of the year, reductions on such a scale would not happen this year. Participation levels in community employment this year will average 28,000, with an estimated closing level at year-end of 25,000. Public speculation about the likely level of reductions next year due to budgetary constraints is also seriously exaggerated.