David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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323. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if the age limits for community employment schemes are currently being reviewed; if any decision has been taken, if a review is in place; and if a person (details supplied) will receive a reduction in payments if they have to give up their community employment scheme when they reach 59 years of age which is when the current community employment scheme finishes. [37047/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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My Department provides a range of activation supports and programmes catering for long-term unemployed jobseekers and those most distant from the labour market. This includes programmes such as Community Employment (CE).

As the Deputy will be aware, CE schemes provide part-time temporary work in their local communities, including opportunities for training and development as a stepping-stone back to employment, for people in receipt of a range of social welfare payments, including those on a long-term jobseeker’s payment.

These schemes help to break the cycle of unemployment and improve a person’s chances of returning to the labour market. My Department is also conscious of the valuable contribution the schemes are making in the provision of services to individuals and communities across Ireland.

With the ongoing welcome reductions in the live register, issues such as the appropriate level of expenditure, the number of places and the criteria for participation on employment schemes, including CE, are all being considered. I hope to be in a position to bring a Memo to Government on these matters in the coming weeks. If there are any changes to be made to the CE scheme, consultations with stakeholders will be facilitated.

The CE participant referred to in your question commenced on Community Employment on the 20th September 2010. To date he is over 6 years on CE and his participation is due to finish on the 22nd September, 2017. At that stage he will have received his full CE participation eligibility of 7 years which is inclusive of the extra disability year. When he finishes his CE participation he will revert to his disability related payment.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.