Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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165. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to revisit the policy decision to reduce the participation limits on the community employment scheme with a view to restoring previous limits in view of the difficulties which community organisations throughout the State are experiencing in keeping schemes in operation due to the problem of securing suitable eligible participants; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36935/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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There have been no changes to the cumulative lifetime participation limits on the Community Employment scheme. With effect from 3 April 2000, lifetime participation on Community Employment by an individual will be limited to:

- 3 years (156 weeks) for persons under 55 years of age.

- 6 years (312 weeks) for persons of 55 years of age up to State Pension age.

- Eligible persons in receipt of a qualifying disability-linked social welfare payment will be eligible for one additional year on CE over the standard maximum participation caps, i.e. 4 years maximum time on CE for those under 55 years of age (PTJ Option only), and 7 years maximum time for those between 55 years of age and State Pension age (PTJ Option only).

Participation on CE prior to 3 April 2000 is not counted. Offshore island residents are exempt from this participation cap, subject to the availability of places on island-based CE schemes.

The length of time a person spends on CE in any particular instance depends on their qualifying conditions. Where a person has been in receipt of a CE-qualifying payment for 12 months or more and is 25 years of age or older, they may qualify for 1 year’s participation on CE under the Part-Time Integration (PTI) Option of CE. If a person has been in continuous receipt of a qualifying payment for 3 years or more and is 35 or over, they may qualify under the Part-Time Job (PTJ) Option of CE that allows up to 3 consecutive years participation, subject to annually renewable contracts.