Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of Travellers identified as participants in community employment in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. [7418/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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It is not possible to state the actual number of Community Employment (CE) participants that are members of the Travelling Community, as there is no obligation on a Traveller to identify themselves as such for CE purposes. A Traveller can be in receipt of a standard CE-qualifying social welfare payment and therefore be recorded under that eligibility category.

However, there is provision in the Department’s IT systems to record Traveller-specific eligibility categories where the person choses to be recorded as such, e.g. persons referred on from Traveller Training Centres to CE positions, or Travellers on the Live Register.

Of those who chose to be categorised under Traveller-specific eligibility types, the following are the figures for the years in question: