John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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554. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of an additional 4,000, 5,000 and 10,000 community employment places. [13848/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Community Employment (CE) schemes provide part-time temporary work in 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.

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. At the end of December 2016, there were 22,356 participants employed on CE schemes.

The estimated full-year cost of an additional 4,000, 5,000 and 10,000 CE places, based on 2016 overall cost figures, would be as follows: