Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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177. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the reason unemployed persons who do not have a social welfare claim in their own right, namely, they are classed as qualified adult dependents, are excluded from the Tús - work placement initiative, even though spousal transfer is allowed for the rural social scheme; the reason unemployed persons under 25 years of age who are living at home, and whose parents are earning just above the cut-off point for their dependents to be eligible for jobseeker's payment, are excluded from the initiative. [36393/15]

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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178. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will review the maximum 12 month duration on a Tús - work placement initiative, on a case-by-case basis, particularly for social and child care placements, where the service users respond better to staff they know and trust, and allow participants gain the minimum experience required, in addition to their qualification, to secure full time employment. [36394/15]

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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179. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will examine the recent directive that allows self referrals to apply for participation in a Tús - work placement initiative, where the main criteria is that the person self-referring must not have engaged in the initiative for a period of more than three years, given that other community employment schemes have only a two year ban. [36395/15]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 177 to 179, inclusive, together.

Tús, the community work placement initiative, provides up to 8,000 short-term, quality work opportunities for those who are unemployed for more than a year. This initiative is being delivered through the network of local development companies and Údarás na Gaeltachta.

Eligibility for Tús is confined to those on the live register and receiving a jobseekers allowance payment for at least 12 months. These requirements ensure a targeted approach to those jobseekers on the live register that are currently long-term unemployed and allows for resources to be made available to the largest number of jobseekers. Tús is designed to break the cycle of unemployment and maintain work readiness with the aim of improving a person’s opportunities in returning to the labour market. There are no circumstances under which a person’s term on Tús will be extended beyond twelve months and it is not in the interest of any participant that such work placements extend for prolonged periods of time.

The restriction of re-engagement on Tús is to enable participants to engage in active job search and to engage with other activation activities provided by the Department, including training coupled with work experience, as provided by the Community Employment scheme. It should be noted that the Department works the implementing bodies to ensure that the full range of employment and activation supports is available to those who complete their Tús placement.

At present, there are no plans to change the eligibility criteria for participation on Tús. It is considered that the existing criteria is adequate to meet the programme’s objectives.