Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 110: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the funding available for the short-term enterprise allowance; the amount allocated for 2011 versus the amount drawn down; and her plans for guaranteeing the future of the scheme. [14961/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Short Term Enterprise Allowance (STEA) is one of a range of activation supports and policies with the objective of assisting social welfare recipients to improve their life chances by facilitating access to self employment, work experience, education and training. The STEA is designed to provide immediate support for a person who qualifies for Jobseeker's Benefit (JB) and who wishes to engage in self employment; it is payable for the duration of their JB entitlement. Accordingly there is no discrete fund from which expenditure on the scheme is drawn down. At the end of May 2011 there were 1,222 participants in the STEA.

The STEA, in conjunction with other employment support schemes, was considered under the Programme for Government 2011-2016 and will be monitored on an ongoing basis.