Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 106: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the additional supports that have been given to job facilitators to deal with the increased demand for access to support; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8942/10]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Department's facilitators work with social welfare recipients of working age, including people in receipt of jobseekers payments, people parenting alone, people in receipt of disability welfare payments and people providing care, to promote participation and social inclusion.

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

In the current economic climate the demand for the facilitator service is elevated. Facilitators make every effort to contact all interested customers as quickly as possible.

A formal targeted programme of activation was introduced under the National Development Plan (NDP). Under this programme, the Department actively selects cases for referral to facilitators. 21,500 cases were referred to facilitators during 2009.

The facilitator service was enhanced under the National Development Plan (NDP) Social and Economic Participation Programme. 23 additional facilitators have been appointed since September, 2008 (59 are currently serving) with a further 11 due for appointment. There are currently 59 facilitators in place. Clerical support for facilitators is provided centrally by Employment Support Services section.

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. Such projects are usually co-funded by the AFSP with other agencies or organisations. The provisional spend for 2009 is approximately €5m.

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 is 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.

Provisional spend for 2009 i s approximately €3.5m.

The number of facilitators in place, their workload, and the effectiveness of the service will continue to be monitored.