Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I am glad to say we have had considerable success in this area. We will launch initiatives to help people with disabilities to get back into the workplace in the current year.

The extra 2,500 places which have been made available to people under farm assist programmes will be subject to a different set of conditions. These will be announced by the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Ó Cuív. The extra places will allow small farmers who are not unemployed but have a certain amount of work to do on their farms to become involved in community employment work. Some 1,300 such farmers are already on community employment schemes and they will transfer to the new scheme and enjoy the flexibility that goes with it. The other 1,200 or so places will be taken up by people who have been trying to access community employment places. These people will be made available for community employment. I will concentrate the extra places in towns and cities.