Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 147: To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to change the eligibility criteria for participation on the community employment programme whereby an individual who is signing for credits is not eligible to participate on community employment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17073/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The aim of Community Employment (CE) remains as an active labour market programme with the emphasis on progression into employment and/or further education and training. The programme is managed within this context, with consideration to the availability of resources and the needs of participants and the community.

The CE programme is one of a range of employment programmes offered by the Department. All of these programmes have specific objectives and eligibility criteria that address the needs of a wide range of participants.

The core eligibility criterion for CE is that the person is in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment, as defined on the DSP public website. This requirement is based on Government policy and Departmental guidelines and has been the rule since CE commenced in 1994.

At present persons signing for credits or are otherwise ineligible for a social welfare payment, do not meet the current eligibility requirements for participation on the CE Scheme. They may, however, be eligible for participation on other Departmental programmes or FÁS programmes, although they may not qualify for payment of an allowance.

Such persons are advised to contact their local DSP Employment Services Office where an Employment Services Officer will be happy to discuss the employment and training options that are open to them.

There are no proposals currently under consideration in regard to making changes to the national operation of the Community Employment programme. Within the current very difficult budgetary constraints, the number of places on Community Employment have been maintained in 2012. In delivering these places, my Department will continue to operate flexibly in the management of this allocation in order to maximise progression to the labour market, while at the same time facilitating the support of community services.