Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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135. To ask the Minister for Social Protection his plans to amend and extend the community employment pilot scheme in order to permit participants who are 60 years of age and older to continue their participation beyond the present maximum standard participation limits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18806/16]

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.

CE 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 scheme’s overall budgeted places.

With the welcome reductions in the live register, the eligibility criteria for work programmes including CE will be kept under review to ensure that the schemes remains fit for purpose and that the eligibility conditions continue to be appropriate.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.