Gay Mitchell (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 73: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the welfare-to-work initiatives that exist within the social welfare system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37254/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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My Department assists and encourages long-term unemployed and other long-term welfare recipients to return to work, training or further education through a range of measures administered by the Department's employment support service.

One significant measure is the back to work allowance scheme which incentivises and encourages long-term unemployed people, lone parents and certain persons with disabilities to return to work by allowing them to retain part of their social welfare payment when they take up employment or self-employment.

Currently there are 9,244 participants in the scheme, over half of whom are engaged in a wide range of self-employment options.

Another measure offered by my Department's employment support service is the back to education allowance programme. This is a second-chance educational opportunities programme designed to encourage and facilitate unemployed people, lone parents and people with disabilities to improve their skills and qualifications with a view to returning to the work force. There were 7,308 participants in the scheme for the 2004-05 year. A range of other supports is provided by the Department's locally based facilitators. Their primary role is to assist the long-term unemployed and other long-term welfare dependants back to work, training or further education by providing them on an individual basis with assistance to access the necessary programmes or supports which their circumstances demand. Facilitators have access to some additional services, such as the special projects and family services funds, which provide funding for specialised training and supports for those who are distant from the labour market and who need additional help in preparing them for further training and employment.

One of the supports targeted specifically at the unemployed is the employment action plan, EAP, under which customers aged 18 to 54 years who are approaching six months on the live register are systematically referred to FÁS for guidance, intervention or placement.

Under that process, a total of 36,289 individuals were referred to FÁS for interview during 2004 and by the end of January 2005 some 23,055 persons, 64% of those referred, had left the live register. Of those, a total of 13,092 persons were placed in jobs or a FÁS programme or had returned to education.

The most recent figures available from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment show that 20,063 persons were referred during the first seven months of 2005. By the end of August 2005, a total of 9,628 persons, 47% of those referred, had left the live register.

In addition to the above, an intensification process commenced in May 2003. Under that process, all customers aged between 18 and 55 years who have spent over six months on the live register and who have not been previously selected for the EAP are being selected for referral to FÁS where they are offered interventions similar to those available under the EAP.

By the end of July 2005 a total of 25,149 persons had been referred to FÁS under that process. During the first seven months of 2005 alone, a total of 4,933 persons were referred for interview, and of those 2,033, or 41%, subsequently left the live register.

Certain customers referred through the EAP process may face severe employability issues not amenable to resolution within the normal range of interventions available. To assist such customers, a high-supports process was established in 2003 by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

As part of that process, local networks of relevant service-providers are being established in certain areas in conjunction with FÁS and my Department's facilitators. People identified as suffering severe employability issues are referred to the local networks and appropriate avenues identified to enhance employability. A special fund is available to purchase specialist training or interventions that may be required to assist an individual.

Another welfare-to-work initiative which my Department operates is the family income supplement, which is designed to provide cash support for employees with families on low earnings. That preserves the incentive to remain in employment in circumstances where employees might otherwise only be marginally better off than if they were claiming other social welfare payments.

Customers in receipt of certain illness related payments such as disability allowance, disability benefit and invalidity pension are not debarred from working while in receipt of those payments, subject to meeting certain criteria.

My Department, through its employment support and other services, has been very successful in assisting people away from the cycle of long-term unemployment and back into the workforce. The services provided, particularly their continued relevance and flexibility, are under constant review. I am particularly interested in advancing measures that blend activation with supports and that make the transition from welfare to work as seamless as possible.