Written answers

Tuesday, 2 November 2010

Department of Social and Family Affairs

Employment Support Services

9:00 pm

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 397: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of back to work or employment incentives currently operated by his Department; the extent to which he proposes to upgrade or enhance any such schemes in line with emerging requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40289/10]

Photo of Éamon Ó CuívÉamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Social Protection operates a range of employment support measures designed to encourage and support social welfare recipients of working age to reduce their dependency on welfare payments.

The Department plays a key role in the National Employment Action Plan which is the main activation measure for jobseekers and provides for a systematic engagement of the employment services with unemployed people. Under the Plan, all persons between the ages of 18 and 65 years who are approaching 3 months on the Live Register, are identified by this Department and referred to FÁS for interview with the aim of assisting them to enter/re-enter the labour market. In addition, under a new initiative, unemployed people are being referred to group engagement sessions in a number of areas. This is aimed at increasing the capacity, effectiveness and efficiency of the process. This will be supported in due course by the roll-out of the Department's profiling and care management systems.

The Department also offers one-to-one assistance through its facilitation service which operates at a local level nationwide in conjunction with FÁS and other agencies. Facilitators help jobseekers develop individual progression plans to enhance their skills and ultimately improve their employment chances. The back to education allowance which supports people who are furthest from the labour market and back to work initiatives are also available and provide targeted supports.

The back to education allowance (BTEA) scheme is a second chance education opportunities scheme designed to remove the barriers to participation in second and third level education by enabling eligible people on social welfare to continue to receive a payment while pursuing an approved full-time education course that leads to a higher qualification than that already held.

The back to work enterprise allowance (BTWEA) is designed to provide a monetary incentive for people who are long term dependant on social welfare payments to make a return to work financially attractive and viable. Participants are allowed retain a reducing proportion of their qualifying social welfare payment (100% in year 1 and 75% in year 2) and may retain secondary benefits over two years. The short term enterprise allowance (STEA) is payable to a person who qualifies for jobseekers' benefit and who wishes to commence in self employment. This allowance is payable for the duration of their jobseeker's benefit entitlement.

A part-time job incentive scheme is also available which allows persons who are long-term unemployed to take up part-time employment for less than 24 hours per week and receive a weekly income supplement called the part-time job allowance. In addition, an Employer Job (PRSI) Incentive Scheme was launched on 20th June 2010. Subject to compliance with the rules of the scheme, an employer taking on an additional employee in 2010 who has been unemployed for 6 months or more, will be exempted from liability for employers' PRSI for 12 months.

Under recently announced changes in ministerial responsibility, the rural social scheme and community services programmes have transferred to this Department from the former Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. Work is also underway to finalise the transfer of both the Employment and Community Services divisions of FÁS to this Department.

Overall, this re-structuring of departmental and agency responsibilities will facilitate the delivery of a more effective and streamlined response to the needs of the unemployed. Bringing together, under the aegis of one department, the employment services of FÁS, the expertise of its placement officers and the unemployment services of this Department as well as the community employment schemes, job initiative scheme, community services programme and the rural social scheme will offer significant opportunities to generate synergies, improve efficiency and, ultimately, improve service delivery to those availing of those services.

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