Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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273. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if there are plans to allow persons who are near retirement age and participating in a Tús scheme to remain on the Tús schemes for an additional year until they are entitled to an old age pension; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47295/21]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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Tús is a labour market activation measure delivered as short-term, community-based work placements for jobseekers on the live register that have been unemployed for more than one year. 

The objective of Tús is help the participant return to the labour market through the provision of supervised work placements within the community, building work experience and individual participant confidence. 

The duration of the Tús participant contract ensures that the greatest number of placements can continue to be available to jobseekers who are long-term unemployed.  This allows jobseekers who are unemployed for more than 12 months to benefit from a period of focused work-experience and to be well-placed to re-enter the labour market at an early opportunity. 

Increasing the duration of Tús placements for those that are near retirement age would reduce both the focus of the short-term work placement and the number of available placements for eligible jobseekers, with a potential adverse affect on future candidates who are on the live register.

For jobseekers approaching retirement age who continue to require the option of supported employment, further opportunity in this regard is provided by my Department through the Community Employment (CE) scheme.  The commencement of a CE placement is available as a progression path for a jobseeker on the completion of Tús, and this can be accessed with the assistance of a case officer. 

The dedicated service support stream of CE can facilitate participants over the age of 62 to remain on the scheme until they reach the State pension age, subject to certain criteria.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, my Department has continued to provide funding for Tús, and introduced a number of contingency measures including the extension of all existing participant contracts, allowing participants to continue to deliver a range of services to their communities.

With the exception of the contract extensions that were introduced in response to the extraordinary public health circumstances of the last year, there are no plans to extend the duration of Tús placements beyond one year.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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274. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons referred to Tús by county in 2018, 2019, 2020 and to date in 2021, in tabular form. [47297/21]

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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278. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if policies are in place for referrals to Tús to take into account the address of the person and that they are given a place on Tús in the county in which they reside rather than being referred to a scheme in a neighbouring county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47301/21]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 274 and 278 together.

Tús is a targeted activation measure specifically designed and delivered to jobseekers who are on the live register and have been unemployed for twelve months or more. Tús is delivered locally by a network of 48 local development companies and Údarás na Gaeltachta, known as implementing bodies (IBs). Eligible jobseekers can commence on Tús following selection and referral, or assisted self-referral, to the IB that delivers Tús in their area. The IB then matches the participant to available Tús placement opportunities in their locality.

A key element of Tús is the placement of participants in structured employment placements within their local community to break the cycle of unemployment. As the objective is to provide opportunities to participants for work within their local communities, the candidates address is, as far as possible, taken into account when referrals and placements are being arranged.

Eligible jobseekers are randomly selected for Tús participation and referred to the IB that delivers Tús in their area. The IB to which a jobseeker is ordinarily referred is determined by the address that is recorded for them. However, a jobseeker may choose to refer themselves through the assisted self-referral process to a different IB in an alternative location or county to the one in which they reside.

The following table provides a breakdown of the number of people who commenced on Tús by their county of residence in the years 2018, 2019, 2020 and up to the end of September, 2021.

Throughout 2018 and 2019, continued improvements in the labour market led to a corresponding fall in the number of people on the live register, and decrease in the number of jobseekers that were long-term unemployed and eligible for participation on Tús.

Since 2020, the emergence of Covid-19 and the introduction of public health restrictions also impacted on the number of jobseekers that commenced Tús.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.