Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 133: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the terms on which persons would retain their social welfare entitlements while taking up a graduate placement introduced in 2009; the other criteria which apply to this scheme; and if it extends to cover secondary benefits. [42506/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Work Placement Programme is designed to offer unemployed people, including unemployed graduates, the opportunity to obtain quality work experience. It is administered by FÁS under the aegis of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. There are two streams under the programme. One is for unemployed graduates who have attained a full award at level 7 or above on the National Framework of Qualifications, the other stream is open to all other unemployed people. Up to now, the programme has been confined to people in receipt of jobseeker's allowance who have been unemployed for 6 months.

The Programme, when introduced, provided for a period of six months work placement. This is being revised with effect from the 1st December 2009 to provide 9 months work experience. People who graduated in 2009 will now be eligible to participate in the programme. People of working age, on schemes such as jobseekers' allowance, jobseekers' benefit, one-parent family payments and disability allowance will now be eligible to be included in the programme. The period for which participants have to be in receipt of a social welfare payment in order to be eligible to retain their social welfare entitlements, has been reduced from six months to three months.

Participants will retain their payments and secondary benefits in accordance with the conditions governing the relevant social welfare scheme. Participation in the Work Placement Programme will not alter the rate of payment and will not curtail or extend its duration. Unemployed people who are not receiving a social welfare payment will also be eligible to participate but they will not be entitled to a payment. To register an interest in the Work Placement Programme, a person should contact their local FÁS office.