Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

A community employment scheme will be reintroduced in my parish of Athleague but it is extremely difficult to recruit people to participate in it. Community employment provides training in many areas and the Minister of State is faced with the reality of creating jobs for those who participate. A young man from my village took up a scheme and was fully trained as a stonemason. He cannot keep up with the work he is being offered. There have been significant achievements under the scheme. It has been reintroduced in Roscommon town to assist in the Tidy Towns competition and improvements can be seen in the area. The scheme provides for a form of national reconstruction, which has been undertaken over the years.

A review of the scheme is timely and there could not be a better Minister of State than Deputy Fahey to carry it out because he is from Galway in rural Ireland. He is aware of the position on the ground and knows about the work carried out by carers and carer's assistants who are recruited by FÁS. When the audit has been carried out, the Minister of State should outline what has been achieved under community employment to highlight the sterling service that has been provided.