Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

36. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the difficulties persons may have being forced onto momentum courses while not being able to afford the cost of getting to class for the placement; if she will indicate the use of these courses in the Dun Laoghaire area, the practice of the DSP INTREO Centre and Local Employment Services having to meet targets and quotas to fill these places; and the number of persons in the Dun Laoghaire constituency currently in placements in momentum courses; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49532/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The MOMENTUM Programme 2014, launched in September 2014, is under the remit of the Department of Education and Skills (DES) and is managed on behalf of DES by SOLAS. The programmes include on-the job training in the form of work experience modules as well as the provision of accredited further education and training required to obtain and retain employment. One third of the 6,500 places have been ring-fenced for the under 25s. This forms part of the Government’s Pathways to Work and the Action Plan for Jobs strategies.

Access to MOMENTUM is exclusively through Case Officers in this Department’s Intreo Centres and Mediators in the Local Employment Services, who operate under contract to this Department. To ensure full utilisation of all MOMENTUM places, this Department is working very closely at national and local level with SOLAS and MOMENTUM providers to host recruitment events and proactively identify eligible candidates. Intreo Centres also support clients who have independently identified MOMENTUM through other channels.

MOMENTUM programmes available to eligible Dun Laoghaire residents assist unemployed jobseekers to gain in-demand skills and to access work in sectors of the economy where there are job opportunities. Eligible clients are supported to access to the most appropriate programme, taking account of their personal requirements and circumstances, including training needs, geographical location, etc. An initial induction module on each programme provides an opportunity to reaffirm course suitability or exploration of alternative options, where appropriate. Continued monitoring of the participation and progression of the learners throughout the programme is facilitated by an active case management approach and a sharing of information between SOLAS and my Department.

It is not possible to establish the number of Jobseekers in the Dun Laoghaire Constituency who are currently on MOMENTUM programmes. While the number of MOMENTUM participants fluctuates from week to week, as at 5 January 2015, there were 46 jobseekers at the Intreo Centre Dun Laoghaire who were on MOMENTUM programmes. More than 850 MOMENTUM places have been made available to date in the South Dublin area, with 460 of these scheduled to commence in the next six weeks.