Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 159: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will allocate €5 million in 2007 towards the mainstreaming of 1,651 participants and supervisors on related FÁS community employment schemes. [32317/06]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Community Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a temporary basis. CE helps unemployed people to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to a work routine and by assisting them to develop both their technical and personal skills. There are currently 22,300 CE participants including CE supervisors on this programme.

CE as an active labour market programme has the emphasis on progression into employment. The programme is managed to this end with primary regard to the needs of participants and the community. In addition, this programme with its focus on the needs of disadvantaged persons, forms a major response by FÁS to tackling the social exclusion of such groups as Persons with a Disability, Lone Parents, Persons Long-term Unemployed and Drug Misusers with a view to their re-integration into the labour market. Any diminution in the budget allocated to Community Employment would have the consequence of reducing the level of labour market service available to these groups.

The determination of the FÁS budget for 2007 is being considered as part of the annual Estimates process.