Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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401. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the full conditions attached to the training support grant for persons with a disability, as announced in budget 2021; if operational guidelines have been published; and if the person applying needs to be engaged with the EmployAbility service to avail of this grant. [41846/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department manages the State’s public employment service (PES) which it delivers through its Intreo centre network of offices and through contractors delivering EmployAbility and other services on its behalf.

The Training Support Grant (TSG) is designed to fund quick access to short term training or related interventions. It also assists with obtaining or renewing certification and permits for individual jobseekers that have identified work opportunities, and where an immediate skills gap preventing a jobseeker from commencing a job offer has been identified with their Case Officer.

The grant is currently available through my Department's Intreo centres and provides jobseekers with financial support up to the value of €1,000, thereby assisting them in obtaining employment.  The scheme is not designed to substitute training and activation measures that are funded under other programmes or agencies, for example, Solas, Education Training Boards, and Teagasc.  

As part of my Department's contract for the provision of Employability services in 2021, the grant will also be available through the Employability service providers and additional funding of €1.5m has been provided for this purpose.  Following completion of the contracting process for 2021, administrative procedures will be put in place with contractors for the grant.  

The conditions of the grant are set out in the operational guidelines which are available at . 

I trust that this clarifies the matter.