Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 35: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will make a statement on the future of local employment centres and congress centres; and if she has any plans that will impact on these. [11874/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Responsibility for the Local Employment Services (LES) transferred from the Department of Education and Skills to the Department of Social Protection with effect from 1st January 2012. The department recognises the valuable role the Local Employment Services play in the activation of unemployed people, particularly those most disadvantaged and distant from the labour market and in the provision of career/vocational guidance to Jobseekers referral by the department to the LES through the National Employment Action Plan (NEAP). My officials have met recently with representatives of the Irish Local Development Network (which includes the Local Employment Services) and assured them of continued funding for 2012. Officials will continue to work to further develop this relationship in 2012. In this regard and as was the case in recent years, for 2012 an interim contract for an initial three month period (January-March 2012) with a pro rata budget was put in place at the end of December 2011 to facilitate the contractual relationship into the new year/2012.

As in previous years officials in the regions will shortly commence a budget bid process with the 24 individual organisations with whom the department contracts for the provision of the local employment service, in order to put a contract in place for the full year 2012.

The Congress Centres are independent companies administered by the Irish congress of Trade Unions (ICTU). Currently, My Department provides the Congress Centres with a number of CE/JI places to enable them to deliver their service. There has been no reduction in the number of places provided to the congress centres to assist them in the provision of their service. Following the reductions in the CE training and materials grant announced in the Budget, the Department of Social Protection commenced a review of the financial resources of individual schemes. This review is scheduled to be completed by the end of March. As stated previously, I have made a commitment that no Community Employment Scheme would close pending the completion of this review.