Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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225. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons taken on in each local authority under the Gateway scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12219/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Gateway was introduced by the Department to deliver on the policy objectives set out in Pathways to Work and is designed to bridge the gap between unemployment and re-entering the workforce. Responsibility for delivery of this initiative rests with individual county and/or city councils. Gateway has a target to provide for 3,000 placements focusing on those who have been unemployed for 24 months or more.

Progress on the roll-out has been slower than anticipated with delays, in the main, related to the on-going staff restructuring processes of county and city councils, the ongoing engagement with stakeholders, particularly Trade Unions, and operational matters relating to securing resources, identifying work and supervisory cover, as well as Garda vetting. As of Friday 7 March, 69 participants were work on Gateway across four local authority areas. The following table details the allocation of the 3,000 places and the breakdown of the numbers filled to date.

Allocation and places filled on Gateway

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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227. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will confirm that any successful applicants for the wage subsidy scheme will no longer require the employee with a disability to terminate his or her entitlement to welfare payments, that is, disability allowance, jobseeker's payment; her plans to apply this retrospectively to jobseekers with a disability already on the wage subsidy scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11535/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The wage subsidy scheme (WSS) was formally launched in 2005 and was one the employment support schemes for people with disabilities which transferred to the Department from FÁS in 2012. The scheme is aimed at employers with a view to incentivising the employment of people with disabilities in the open labour market. The WSS is payable where the employee works a minimum of 21 hours per week, and the employer must apply the same conditions of employment as for other employees – including minimum wage, PRSI, PAYE and annual leave requirements. The scheme is not statutorily-based and the operational guidelines require employees to surrender their primary social welfare payment if they take up employment for which the employer will receive a payment under WSS.

However, the legislation governing disability allowance (DA) allows claimants to avail of an earnings disregard (up to €120 per week without affecting their DA payment) if they take up employment (certified to be of a rehabilitative nature) and in practice, the WSS operational guidelines are not taken into consideration, so DA remains in payment. I should state that the Department is carrying out a comprehensive review of the employment support schemes which transferred from FÁS with a view to ensuring that the range of measures in place is fit for purpose – to facilitate and support people with disabilities to avail of employment opportunities.