John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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114. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in County Waterford who have claimed the back to work enterprise allowance for the self-employed over the past four years. [48317/14]

John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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115. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of companies and persons based in County Waterford who have successfully taken up the employer job incentive scheme in the past three years. [48322/14]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 114 and 115 together.

The Back to Work schemes, the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA) assist those on certain social welfare payments who wish to become self-employed. The number of jobseekers who have received support since 2010 was 316 in 2010, 412 in 2011, 378 in 2012 and 344 in 2013.

JobsPlus was introduced by the Department of Social Protection in July 2013. JobsPlus replaced two schemes, one operated by the Revenue Commissions - Revenue JobAssist, and the PRSI Exemption Scheme operated by the Department of Social Protection. JobsPlus is designed to provide an accessible cash incentive for employers recruiting longer-term unemployed jobseekers. To date, 75 individual companies are receiving support under JobPlus in County Waterford in respect of 120 employees. Precise annual data is not available in respect of the PRSI exemption scheme; however, 75 companies in Waterford availed of the scheme in the years 2010 to mid-2013.