John Whelan (Labour)
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I thank the Minister for coming in because I realise how busy she is. I am conscious of the hours of work she has put into resolving the outstanding issues surrounding the community employment schemes. This Adjournment matter offers the chance to debunk any scare-mongering that has taken place about doubts surrounding the Minister's own personal commitment to the community employment scheme model and the Government's commitment to those schemes. My concerns, as set out in my question to the Minister, are that there are more than 23,300 workers employed in 1,270 community employment schemes country-wide, all carrying out valuable work, training and labour activation activities.

The budget in December caused some consternation for many of the schemes because it was proposed initially that there would be a 66% cut in materials grants for the schemes, which would have rendered many of them inoperative and unsustainable. The Minister, to give credit where it is due, initiated a review of that and embarked on a wide ranging review of the operation and funding of the schemes.

It is universally accepted that one size does not fit all, that not all schemes are the same and they do not all require the same funding or training modules. The review was initiated as far back as January. Half the year has since passed and the initial report was due at the end of March. A considerable period has passed where many of the schemes, their workers, supervisors and sponsors have been operating in limbo and they have not had much clarity on the funding model.

This evening I urge the Minister to assist us in this regard. It is imminent and the Minister has been pressing for this to be brought to a conclusion. I ask her to indicate to us this evening when we can expect the review to be concluded and what its determination will be so the schemes can proceed in a vigorous and sustainable fashion. In Laois, a total of 17 viable schemes employ more than 300 people. Like everyone else country-wide, they want to know where they stand so they can get on with their work.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I thank Senator Whelan for his kind remarks and I acknowledge and reiterate the importance of community employment in the provision of crucial services to both rural and urban communities across the country.

There are 1,143 CE schemes in operation nationally, with 23,300 places, on which there are around 22,000 participants and approximately 1,400 full-time supervisor posts. Work on these schemes covers a diverse range of activities such as child care, horticulture, social services, cultural and arts activities, IT, sports, environmental, heritage, clerical and administrative and drugs rehabilitation. The overall estimated budget will be in excess of €315 million for 2012.

Due to the current economic circumstances facing the country and the need for the Department to find substantial savings in the context of the budget, it is necessary to examine all aspects of expenditure of my Department on an ongoing basis. It was against this backdrop that the financial review of CE schemes got underway a couple of months ago. The schemes were transferred to the Department on 1 January. The main objective was to identify areas where savings could be achieved through efficiencies so that best use could be made of the available funds in the context of the important work that is done for local communities and in order that participants have a good quality experience that offers the possibility of progressing into work.

As a result of the review, significant savings have been already made to the overheads of CE projects in terms of annual insurance costs and audit fees. The savings will increase next year as some projects had already incurred these costs prior to the new arrangements being in place. Given the volume and breadth of the data being returned, the review has taken longer than anticipated to complete but it is important to point out that this has allowed more time for schemes to engage with local officials in the finalisation of their respective budgets and for the Department to bring forward improvements to the overall operation of CE which will improve the budgetary situation for schemes. We must bear in mind that 700 FÁS staff joined the Department, along with the 23,000 people on the schemes. This has been a major change under the Croke Park model.

I am happy to tell the House that the review is now complete and schemes will receive notification of their revised allocations by the end of this week from their local departmental offices.

Under the revised arrangements to be notified to sponsors, schemes will no longer be given universal amounts of financial support but instead will be provided with a specific level of support aimed at meeting the particular costs necessarily incurred by them, having regard to the overall level of funding available for community employment nationally.

As Senators will appreciate, the review is of interest and importance to the many stakeholders involved. Accordingly, I will ensure stakeholders will be able to respond to the findings.

It is worth noting that a separate labour market activation schemes policy review is under way because my Department is spending almost €1 billion on various forms of activation and employment support. This review, which is nearing completion, will also help to inform the Department's strategic approach to the schemes, including the community employment programme.

I assure Senators that the Department is committed to supporting the community employment programme and the valuable contribution it is making to the provision of services to individuals and communities. I anticipate that the employment managers involved in the schemes from the Department will contact schemes from tomorrow in regard to allocations in respect of materials and training. This will be very much influenced by the submissions made by scheme organisers. I am putting into place an appeals mechanism for scheme organisers who are unhappy with what they have received.

John Whelan (Labour)
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I thank the Minister. It is really good news that the review is concluded and that schemes will be notified as and from tomorrow. This is very important for many schemes because, although many accepted there had to be modifications and changes and that there were budgetary limitations, the lack of clarity was crippling their ability to proceed with any vigour. The development is very important.

I welcome the fact that the Minister, in her wisdom and as part of the review process, has embedded in the system an appeals process. When there is a change of structure and system and a new template, it is important that the sponsors and supervisors be given a chance, where necessary and appropriate, to make their case and appeal if they believe certain circumstances have not been taken into account. I welcome this. Could the Minister elaborate a little on the appeals process and how it will work?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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As I indicated, some additional funding is being made available in regard to materials and training. Its allocation will depend on the applications made by schemes. This will be communicated by regional managers. Some schemes submitted applications referencing figures below €500 and other schemes submitted applications referencing figures above €1,000. They can apply to the regional manager initially and if they are still unhappy with the outcome, they can apply to the assistant secretary in charge of the schemes overall. Clearly, they will have to justify any application they make and show they have made savings.

One of the interesting points to emerge from the review is that many schemes were incurring heavy administration costs because there are so many companies, particularly in respect of insurance and auditing. We have changed the arrangements to make it possible to make savings. As I stated, some schemes have already entered legal commitments, and in some cases schemes are committed to quite expensive rents. We will be asking schemes to seek to re-negotiate with landlords. Savings may not be possible for some this year but it may be possible to enter the negotiation process now.

I hope we will have good outcomes. We are involved in discussions with the prototype SOLAS on the provision of training. With certain types of programmes, particularly ring-fenced ones such as those pertaining to drugs and child care, the training, education and qualifications offered are very important. We hope to improve the qualification people can obtain from such schemes. I have had an opportunity over the past few months to visit schemes around the country and meet groups of supervisors and directors of scheme sponsorship companies. I have enjoyed this very much and I was very impressed by the work taking place. We have retained all the places and supervisors. Under the current structure, there are schemes that last for one year, two years and three years. For certain categories of individual, it may be possible to extend the given period. In this regard, the position remains as it was.

Michael Mullins (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister and Senator John Whelan. I hope there will be good news for many schemes when they receive a telephone call tomorrow. I hope there will not be many appeals.