Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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325. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the rate of payment to participants in the work placement scheme. [30294/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The July Jobs Stimulus includes commitments to the investment of €200m. in training, education, skill development, work placement schemes, recruitment subsidies and jobs search and assistance measures aimed to help those who have lost their jobs find a new one, retrain or develop new skills. One of the measures is the development of a funded Work Placement Scheme to provide work experience for jobseekers that have been unemployed for more than six months (to include those who received a PUP payment).

This initiative builds on advice from the Labour Market Advisory Council that such placements have the capacity to keep unemployed people close to the labour market and provide them with quality work experience to increase their employability. Moreover, work placements afford employers the opportunity to contribute to the national activation agenda. The use of work placements to straddle the transition from education and training to full-time employment has proven successful in the past and it is important that a new scheme be developed further to provide valuable work experience for jobseekers.

€30 million has been provisioned for this measure up to the end of 2021 to support 10,000 work placements for jobseekers. It is anticipated that some 5,000 host organisations will be required to support participants in these placements. A marketing and information campaign will be required to build momentum around the scheme and businesses will be encouraged to promote their support and engagement in the scheme.

Work is ongoing within my Department on finalising the detailed provisions of the programme. In relation to rate of payment to participants on the Work Placement Scheme, the final decision has not been reached. When these matters have been decided I will make a statement outlining the aims, scope and operation of the programme.