Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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10. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans on increasing the numbers on the RSS, Tús, community employment and CSP schemes this year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4712/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department of Social Protection plans to spend over €1 billion on supports for jobseekers under various community, activation and education schemes in 2015. Looking at individual schemes, I am pleased to confirm for the Deputy that:

- The number of participants on the rural social scheme (RSS) is expected to remain at around 2,600 in 2015 at a cost of some €45 million;

- The projections for Tús – the community work placement initiative – are that at least 7,500 jobseekers will be maintained on the scheme during 2015 at a cost of some €113 million; and

- The community services programme (CSP) has an allocation of over €45 million in 2015 which will enable employment levels to be maintained at around 2,800, as was the case in recent years.

The Deputy should also note that it is planned to engage 25,300 jobseekers in community employment (CE) in 2015, with a budget of €373m. This includes the additional 2,000 places approved in 2014. In addition, it is expected that Gateway – the work placement initiative with county and city councils - will reach the 3,000 level towards the middle of this year. Finally, the number of places available to support employers under the JobsPlus initiative is doubled to 6,000 jobs.

An important initiative – the back to work family dividend - was announced in Budget 2015. It is designed to incentivise jobseekers, lone parents and employment programme participants who have children to take up full time employment or self-employment. If a person qualifies for the scheme they will get a weekly payment for up to 2 years - the equivalent of any Increases for Qualified Children that were being paid (up to a maximum of 4 children) for the first year in employment. Half that amount will be paid weekly for the second year.

The allocation for 2015 ensures that new initiatives, like back to work family dividend, can be introduced while fully maintaining schemes such as the RSS, Tús, the CSP and CE.