Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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408. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will address a matter regarding community employment schemes (details supplied). [44847/21]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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Community Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a temporary, fixed term basis.

CE sponsoring authorities receive annual contracts from my Department which fund the employment of both CE participants and supervisors, as well as funding towards training and material costs. Grant aid is provided by the Department to cover these costs on a per capita basis.

CE has an annual budget of approximately €350 million. Financial monitoring of CE schemes by my Department is undertaken to ensure proper financial management and accountability for this significant level of state funding.

To this end, CE sponsoring authorities are required to have a single dedicated bank account that must be used solely for the lodgement and payment of public monies, including participant wages, for the specific CE project concerned.

My Department's restrictions only govern the use of the dedicated CE bank account to manage public funds received for this purpose.

I trust this clarifies the situation for the Deputy.