Written answers

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Community Employment Schemes

9:00 pm

Photo of Jack WallJack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 194: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if changes have been made in community employment schemes following Budget 2010; if so, if a person can remain on a CE scheme longer than three years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1462/10]

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, 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 fixed term 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 to assist them to enhance/develop both their technical and personal skills.

Budget 2010 contained some changes to Community Employment Schemes however, the qualifying criteria and rules for participation remain unchanged. A number of savings were identified, mainly in the area of training allowances that are linked to Social Welfare payments and certain FÁS Allowances that are provided in addition to the core training allowances. The FÁS allowance for CE and JI participants will reduced from €24.40 and €48.80 per week to €20 and €40 per week respectively. In addition, new entrants to FÁS training programmes will only be paid an allowance if they had been entitled to Job Seekers Allowance or Job Seekers Benefit.

The funding in respect of training and materials for those on CE programmes will be reduced from €1,500 to €750 per head per annum. These savings will allow for an increase of 500 CE places bringing the total number of places available to 23,300. A person can remain on a CE Scheme for longer than 3 years if they are aged 55 years or over. In addition persons in receipt of the following disability-linked Social Welfare payments may be eligible for an additional 1 year's participation: Disability Allowance; Blind Pension; Invalidity Pension; Illness Benefit for 6 months or more.

Photo of Joe McHughJoe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 195: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will, through FÁS, explore the possibility of developing community employment schemes on developing walkways and cycle routes on disused railway lines nationally in view of the fact that there are more than 400,000 persons unemployed here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1487/10]

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, 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 fixed term basis. The purpose of CE is to help unemployed people to re-enter the open labour market by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to a work routine and to assist them to enhance/develop both their technical and personal skills.

Eligible projects are those which: respond to an identified community need; provide development for participants in areas involving heritage, arts, culture, tourism, sport and the environment; have the agreement of relevant trade unions; do not displace or replace existing jobs; offer valuable work experience for participants. FÁS would welcome proposals from Local Sponsors to carry out projects such as those mentioned by the Deputy. All proposals would be considered within allocated budgets and participant numbers.

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