Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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45. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the amount available for community employment projects annually per CE participant for training and courses; and the options available to the project in the event of course costing more than the individual training grant. [47551/14]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The training budget for Community Employment (CE) in 2014 is €5.8m. Each DSP Division is allocated an overall training budget for schemes. There is flexibility that can be applied in the approval of training rates, particularly when the training is leading to a Major Award e.g. in childcare. However, each Division has to keep expenditure in line with the annual budget allocation for training.

Delivery of training is in accordance with a tailored Individual Learning Plan compiled by the CE supervisor with the participant, given the participant’s training requirements and employment goals. Any proposed training that exceeds the budget allocated is assessed based on the value of the training provided in terms of furthering the employment prospects of the individual.

All expenditure must be accounted and vouched for by way of receipts. It is the responsibility of the scheme to ensure that they have obtained training at the best price and that they have achieved value for money. It is desirable that the majority of training will be provided by the Education and Training Boards.

Further detail on the training grant and conditions is available in the CE Operation Procedures.