John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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328. To ask the Minister for Social Protection when he will announce the reforms to the community employment and Gateway schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11807/17]

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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341. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if he will confirm or deny recent reports that employment schemes such as Tús and Gateway aimed at getting persons back to work face being cut (details supplied) as part of cost saving measures; the proposals in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11977/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 328 and 341 together.

Community Employment (CE), Tús, Gateway and the Rural Social Scheme are part of the Department’s range of programmes catering for long-term unemployed jobseekers and those most distant from the labour market. The schemes are designed to break the cycle of unemployment and maintain work readiness, thereby improving a person’s opportunities of returning to the labour market.

Tús was introduced as a direct response to the growth in the level of unemployment during the financial crisis. As the economic recovery takes hold and the overall level of unemployment continues to fall, my Department recognises the need to adapt these schemes to the changing circumstances, opportunities and the needs of jobseekers. With this in mind, my Department undertook an analysis of the CE programme and while the primary focus was on that scheme, the review also looked at other employment programmes such as Tús and Gateway and made a number of recommendations in relation to the operation of these schemes.

I recently brought a Memo to Government and obtained approval to publish the review report and to progress a number of recommendations. I will be publishing the review report shortly.

As part of the roll out of any new measures, my Department will be consulting with key stakeholders. The nature and format of the consultation process are being finalised at present.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputies.