Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 154: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the specific requirements set down for employers participating in the work placement programme in relation to minimum training requirements and where these requirements are set down; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that no requirements are mentioned in the work placement programme provider application form or in the accompanying guidelines document; the steps that have been taken to ensure that any such requirements are met before a placement is sanctioned and while a placement is in progress; and the penalties applying to providers who do not meet any such requirements. [13899/10]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Work Placement Programme there are no compulsorily minimum training requirements for placements to be approved. The purpose of the programme is to provide valuable work experience to unemployed individuals and as such it is essentially a work experience programme. FÁS, however, encourages employers to offer training during a placement but it is not a requirement of the programme. In fact several existing placements do include a training element for participants on the Work Placement Programme. Individuals participating in the Work Placement Programme can also avail of the broad range of FÁS training, during their placement. This training can be delivered through a range of different methodologies such as online, blended learning, evening courses, which would enable these individuals to combine their work placement with a training element.

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 155: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the penalties applying to an employer who makes a false declaration in Part C of the work placement programme provider application form. [13900/10]

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 157: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps he is taking to ensure that the work placement programme is not being exploited to displace existing or prospective employment. [13902/10]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 155 and 157 together.

FÁS are responsible for managing and overseeing the operation of the Work Placement Programme and they have introduced a number of measures designed to prevent exploitation and the displacement of existing or prospective employment. For instance, all potential providers must confirm the following:

- The placement will not be provided to fill an existing vacancy.

- The placement will not be provided to displace an existing employee.

- Providers must have Public and Employers liability insurance and this must cover the participant on the work placement.

- Providers must confirm that their company is fully compliant with current workplace health and safety and all other legal requirements.

In addition, organisations are not allowed to participate if they have made an employee redundant in the last three months. However, where there is no direct displacement of an employee, and the level of redundancies in the last three months was less than 5% of the workforce, these organisations will be eligible to participate. Prior to any placement commencing, an organisation must complete and sign the provider application form and confirm that they meet these requirements.

FÁS has also put in place a process whereby opportunities offered under the Work Placement Programme are cross checked against any recent similar job vacancies notified to FÁS by employers with a view to avoiding any related job displacements. Within the first two months of the commencement of a placement, the Provider receives a formal monitoring visit from FÁS. The visit is conducted to monitor whether the placement is taking place as described in the Work Placement description. A monitoring report is completed with any issues that arose during the visit detailed. Some possible outcomes of the monitoring visit could be to recommend that:

The placement continues

The placement continues with a follow up monitoring visit scheduled

The placement is ended

The Provider should not be approved for future placements

In addition to the formal application process and formal monitoring of the placement and the Provider, at all times any staff member, a Participant or member of the public can raise issues or make known their concerns about a placement or a Provider by contacting any FÁS office. FÁS will in all instances follow up on any complaints made in relation to abuse of participants or of the spirit of the programme. If any organisation is in breach of the conditions of the programme or make a false declaration such as under Part C on the Provider application form, FÁS may immediately remove them from the programme.

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 156: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of work placement provider applications that have been sanctioned to date; and the number that have been refused. [13901/10]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Work Placement Programme 2,126 provider applications have been received to date. Of these a total of 2,033 have been sanctioned and 93 applications have been refused to date.