Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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204. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason participants in the Tús work placement initiative must have a bank account in their names when other social welfare payments can be processed through An Post or post office accounts. [12902/15]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Tús is a community work placement initiative, established in 2011, that provides short-term part-time working opportunities for unemployed people. The income received by participants on Tús is treated as income from employment for PRSI purposes and, in the same manner as other workers, is subject to Class A PRSI. This provides the participants on these schemes with access to the benefit of full insurability, including future entitlement to short-term benefits such as illness and jobseekers benefits and contributes towards establishing entitlement to pensions.

A central payroll service is provided for Tús participants on behalf of the Department and weekly remuneration is paid to the participant’s bank account. It is worth remembering that Tús is an employment activation opportunity aimed at those who are unemployed. The scheme supports the goals of providing and developing important skills to participants, including general work readiness. One aspect of work readiness is the operation of a personal account for lodgement of wages and to support further financial transactions. The majority of employers today will only offer the payment of wages directly into an employee's account for reasons of safety, security, economy and visible audit trails. The Department is the biggest client of the post office network, using it for both mail and cash services. The operations of all schemes funded by the Department are monitored with a view to making any necessary improvements and to ensure they operate to take account of any changes arising on other schemes or policy initiatives.