Cecilia Keaveney (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 676: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the role his Department has in ensuring that all those eligible for positions on community employment schemes are offered a place (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25255/05]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The main purpose of the community employment programme is to provide work experience and training for the long-term unemployed and disadvantaged groups and thereby enable participants to advance successfully to employment in the open labour market. FÁS employment programmes, which comprise community employment, CE, social economy and job initiative, will provide a total of 25,000 places in 2005 at a cost in the region of €368 million, of which €293 million is in respect of CE.

FÁS Employment Services, through its network of offices, is the access point to all FÁS training and employment programmes, including CE, for job seekers. Vacancies on CE are advertised in both FÁS and local employment service offices and are also shown on the FÁS website.

Participation on the programme is approved by FÁS. Priority is accorded to all interested and eligible clients who are referred to FÁS under the national employment action plan preventative process. This entails the systematic engagement and referral by the Department of Social and Family Affairs of persons six months on the live register, to FÁS, for interview. In the period January 2003 to December 2004, 96,000 clients have been referred under this process. In November 2004, I announced that the three year limit on participation on CE would be raised to six years for those over 55 years. I did this to help ensure that projects can recruit the full complement of participants.