David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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190. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to have the Gateway programme independently evaluated; if such an evaluation has already occurred; if so, the findings of same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23347/15]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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As the Deputy will be aware, Gateway is a work placement scheme with county and city councils that commenced in December 2013. It aims to provide short-term quality and suitable work opportunities for those who are unemployed for more than 24 months.

To date, there are some 2,200 participants on the scheme and funding of the order of €22.4m is being provided by the Department in 2015 for Gateway.

The operation of all schemes funded, either in part or full, by this Department is monitored on an on-going basis and changes are introduced to facilitate more efficient and effective operation and/or to better address the needs of jobseekers. Given the relatively recent introduction of the Gateway initiative, I believe that it is too early to undertake a full evaluation of it and there are no plans to do so at present.