David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 285: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 21 and 159 of 25 June 2009, if the number of facilitators stands at 70; the locations of each facilitator; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32137/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The number of facilitators currently in place is 61.5 (half post is due to a work sharing arrangement). It is envisaged that this number will increase to 70 in the coming months.

The facilitator service is available locally to all social welfare recipients via the local network. Facilitators are assigned to cover a geographical area. They hold open clinics and meet with people who have been referred either by the social welfare local office, the employment support section or by other agencies. In addition, cases are selected and referred to facilitators by employment support section. An appointment can be made by contacting the facilitators directly or via the appropriate local office.

A list showing the number and location of facilitators follows for the information of the Deputy.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 286: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the responsibilities and duties of facilitators working for her; the training funds, grants and so on under which these facilitators can allocate funding; the amount available under these funds and grants in 2008 and 2009; if an annual per person limit in accessing training or other employment supports and funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32138/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Department's facilitators work with social welfare recipients of working age, including jobseekers, lone parents, people in receipt of disability welfare payments and people providing care, to enable them to participate fully in society.

Facilitators work with social welfare recipients to identify appropriate training or development programmes which will enhance their skills and improve their employment chances, as well as help them to continue to develop personally. Facilitators, who are located throughout the country and are assigned to cover defined geographical areas, work with individuals to develop progression plans for them. They work closely with FÁS and other agencies at a local level to identify and target appropriate education, training and development opportunities.

A facilitator deals with referrals from local offices, the Department's inspectorate and people in receipt of social welfare payments who may themselves decide to seek the service of a facilitator. The facilitator service may also be sought by someone who has a business idea, who wishes to avail of the back to work enterprise allowance or by someone who intends to return to education under the back to education programme. In addition, one of the roles of the Department's facilitators is to engage with other agencies to enhance local working relationships and to ensure that agencies work together to provide services to customers in receipt of welfare payments. Facilitators are also engaged in extensive information provision to individuals, organisations and communities, about the services of the Department.

In addition to the local referral system, a formal targeted programme of activation was introduced under the NDP. Under this programme, the Department actively selects cases for referral to facilitators. The current economic climate has determined that a large part of a facilitator's work at present is with people on the live register.

Facilitators have two funding streams available to them: the Activation and Family Support Programme (AFSP) and the Technical Assistance and Training Scheme (TATS).

The purpose of the AFSP is to enable the Department to assist local organisations and agencies to implement projects addressing the disadvantaged personal, social and economic circumstances of recipients of welfare payments and their families. Projects are usually co-funded by the AFSP and funds from other agencies or organisations.

The AFSP is designed to fund once-off projects to support and test the effectiveness of the projects it funds. In this regard, the AFSP is not designed to be a source of on-going funding. The application of the funds is largely responsive in that, as needs are identified by local organisations and agencies, applications for funding can be made to the AFSP via the local Facilitators. The AFSP h as a budget of €6 million annually for 2008 and 2009 and it is not allocated on the basis of a per person limit.

Under the technical assistance and training scheme (TATS), a welfare recipient may qualify for a grant up to a maximum of €1,000. The grant i s mainly targeted towards certain business start-up expenses of clients in receipt of the back to work enterprise allowance scheme. This fund is designed to enhance the person's prospects of succeeding in becoming independent of the social welfare system through support for training in the areas of starting a business, book-keeping/accounts, preparation of business plans, marketing, literacy and computer training or assistance with the purchase of small items of equipment. It is administered through the Department's facilitator network based in social welfare local offices.

The maximum amount of TAT available to an individual is €1,000. The TATS has a budget of €3 million annually for 2008 and 2009.