John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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343. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if a person can receive an extension to their community employment scheme if they are over 62 years of age; if this extension can be up until pension age; when this measure as part of community employment reform will be available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17538/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The purpose of Community Employment (CE) schemes is to 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.

A pilot initiative was announced in December 2015 to enable those aged 62 and over to extend their participation beyond the standard maximum participation limits providing the eligibility conditions are met. Participants over age 62 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 recently announced some changes which will widen the range of people who can take part in CE and these will commence following a consultation process with key stakeholders. As part of these plans I also gave a commitment to review the possibility of allowing more older people to stay on schemes for longer. This review will take place in the next 3 months.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.