Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I knew that would raise a few eyebrows. That approach was taken in the context of the bailout programme and the pressure to justify the schemes to the troika as being entirely about upskilling participants in order to help them to enter the workforce. Although I speak from the perspective of a rural representative, this issue does not align with a rural-urban divide. In fact, the arguments I will make in respect of rural areas are equally applicable to urban environments, particularly those areas of social disadvantage in our larger towns and cities. For people who are out of work, particularly in the Border counties where there is a high proportion of single males without employment and among whom the uptake of these schemes is particularly high, community employment is vital in offering them dignity, confidence and a reason to get up in the morning. The difficulty from a rural perspective in the notion that participants, once they have upskilled, must proceed directly to work is that it falls flat when one considers that many of them are living in areas without adequate transport, do not have the financial capacity to hire a taxi and, most importantly, are obliged to travel if they are to have a reasonable expectation of securing work. In my own area the only towns in which there is some prospect of securing employment are Sligo, Longford, Cavan and, possibly, Enniskillen; beyond these one has no hope. Therefore, it is vital that the review the Minister is undertaking take adequate account of the social dimension. I have no doubt that, as a Labour Party Minister, she has the empathy and understanding I am attempting to convey in terms of seeking to ensure community employment schemes are not simply about the upskilling necessary to make the transition from welfare to work. The bottom line in the current climate is that there is no work available. It is vital that the Minister ensure the reports are brought into the public domain sooner rather than later. Without wishing in any way to diminish what she has said, I urge that the Department does not attempt to reinvent the wheel in reviewing the schemes newly within its remit. The basics are in place; everybody knows how the schemes work and what they are about, and all the statistics are available.

I fully agree that there are inefficiencies in the system. In this context, I am particularly pleased that the Minister singled out the financial drain of having to hire accountants, set up limited companies and so on. I fully welcome efforts to ensure a greater degree of group involvement rather than individual operation. It will be interesting to see how such initiatives will be progressed when the review recommendations are brought before both Houses, as I am sure the Minister intends to do. I take the opportunity to reiterate how important it is that there continue to be a strong social dimension to the schemes. As it stands, the uncertainty surrounding the reductions in grants, particularly for materials, is already having an adverse effect. Any savings as a result of addressing inefficiencies identified in the system should be redirected into the schemes in order to lessen the impact of funding reductions rather than being absorbed into the Department. The Minister referred to an increase in funding, but the reality is that the allocation to community employment schemes was reduced in the budget from €360 million last year to €315 million this year. I hope the Minister can make up some of the shortfall by introducing greater efficiencies into the system.