Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 177: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason persons who have been in receipt of jobseeker's allowance and subsequently take up work on a FÁS scheme lose their entitlement to apply to the Tús scheme; her views on whether this is a disincentive to unemployed persons availing of the FÁS scheme and if she will amend the Tús eligibility requirements accordingly. [13506/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Tús is a community work placement initiative which will provide up to 5,000 short-term, quality work opportunities for those who are unemployed for more than a year. Some €30 million has been provided in the Department's Estimates in 2011 to fund the roll-out of the initiative. This initiative is delivered through the network of local development companies and Údarás na Gaeltachta in Gaeltacht areas. Participants will, in the first instance, be identified by the Department of Social Protection by applying the following conditions:

A person must be unemployed and in receipt of a jobseeker's payment for at least 12 months, and

Currently be in receipt of jobseekers allowance, and

Be fully unemployed.

The purpose of Tús is to focus on those people who are long-term unemployed. For this reason, eligibility is at present confined to those on the Live Register for 12 months and in receipt of jobseeker's allowance. These provisions are to ensure a targeted approach to those currently affected by long-term unemployment. Persons already in employment are not eligible for these positions. The operation of the scheme, including eligibility criteria, will be kept under review and will inform the evaluation process in due course.