Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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127. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if her Department are in a position to extend a community employment workers' position (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39760/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Community Employment Programme is a labour market intervention designed to assist the long term unemployed return to the work force. The term for participants on Community Employment has been set at three years maximum for those under 55 years of age by the Department.

The person concerned has been a participant on the Dublin 12 Centre for the Unemployed Community Employment (CE) scheme for the last year, having spent two years previously as a participant on the Vincent De Paul CE scheme. Our records show that as the person concerned has completed three years in total on CE, she will have exceeded the maximum duration entitlement at the end of her current contract. It is not therefore possible to grant the request from the Project Sponsor for a further extension on CE for the person concerned.

Our records also show that there was only limited engagement in training by the person concerned during her total time on CE. The course she now proposes to participate in would ideally take a further two years to complete fully, with no CE time to date used for this programme by her. Furthermore, this course is not directly specific to the nature of the service provided by the group she is placed with; Dublin 12 Domestic Violence Service. Admission to the course is open and is not linked to or dependent on CE participation; therefore on that basis the person concerned could enrol on the course and complete it in her own time, together with gaining any required work experience hours through relevant voluntary work or otherwise.

It is also open to the person concerned to contact her Intreo or Local Employment Service Office, where staff are available to provide information to her on other employment and training opportunities available to those in local communities exiting or ineligible for CE schemes.