Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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368. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason that the job initiative scheme payment is €11.56 per hour, the community employment and TUS schemes are €11.56 per hour yet will raise to €13 hourly for the duration of fuel allowance (details supplied). [45623/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Job Initiative (JI) is an employment support scheme designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities. Recruitment onto the scheme ceased from November 2004. At the end of August 2022, there were 437 JI participants employed by managing agents nationally. The Budget for 2022 is just over €11.8 million.

Participants on JI are employed full time and paid weekly by a JI managing agent. The Department funds wages for team leaders and participants along with a grant to contribute towards the running costs of the scheme in respect of administration, materials, overheads, training and development.

The JI rate for participants has increased from €420 in 2016 to €461 in 2022. The current rate for JI participants is for 39 hours per week and equates to €11.82 per hour, which is above the current minimum wage of €10.50 per hour and will remain above the minimum age when it increases to €11.30 from January 2023. JI participants can also receive other Social Welfare benefits such as the annual Christmas Bonus.

Community Employment (CE) and Tús are 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. Participation on the scheme is part time - 19.5 hours per week. CE and Tús participants do not receive an hourly rate as these payment rates are related to the underlying value of certain social protection payments plus €22.50 per week. In addition, a participant may be eligible, where appropriate, for payments in respect of any qualified dependent adult and children.

Fuel Allowance is a seasonal payment and not part of CE or Tús participant’s weekly rate. The Fuel Allowance season normally runs from late September to April. The current weekly rate is €33. It is paid to long-term social welfare recipients who are unable to provide for their heating needs from their own resources.

As participants on JI are not on long term social welfare payments but are in full time employment, they would not meet the qualifying criteria for a Fuel Allowance.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.