Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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273. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if he will permit all persons on community employment schemes who are over 60 years of age, where desired, to continue on the scheme until they reach retirement age given the difficulties they will meet in endeavouring to secure alternative employment. [16657/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Community Employment (CE) is a labour market activation programme which helps long-term unemployed people (those 12-months or more in receipt of a jobseeker’s payment) and other disadvantaged groups to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to work routine. It is designed to be a temporary fixed-term activation intervention. The programme assists participants to enhance and develop both their technical and personal skills which can then be used in the workplace.

The CE programme is open to participants aged up to 65 years of age who meet the current eligibility criteria. A pilot initiative was introduced in December 2015 to enable those aged 62 and over to extend their participation beyond the standard maximum participation limits (currently set at 6 years cumulative lifetime participation) providing the eligibility conditions are met. Participants aged 62 and over, are allowed to participate on a continuous basis up to the state pension age, subject to satisfactory performance on the scheme and to annual approval by the Department. The places allocated for these participants within each individual CE scheme are limited to 7% of each schemes overall budgeted places.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.