Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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319. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will provide an update on the community employment scheme; the number of persons currently availing of the scheme; her plans, if any, to increase the payment for those availing of the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47025/22]

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. Participation on the scheme is part time - 19.5 hours per week.

There are currently just over 18,700 participants on CE. In order to assist schemes to maintain services in the current tight labour market and improve recruitment, Minister Humphreys and I announced a number of reforms to CE in December 2021 and again in June 2022 - allowing all those over 60 to remain on schemes until they reach retirement age and to permit further extensions to participants' contracts where no replacement has been referred to fill places.

The payment rates on CE are related to the underlying value of certain social protection payments plus €22.50 per week. In addition, a participant may be eligible for payments in respect of any qualified dependent adult and children. If a CE participant's underlying payment (including dependents) is €208 a week or less, they receive the minimum CE weekly rate of €230.50, that is €208 plus the top up of €22.50. If a participant's underlying payment (including dependents) is €208 or more, then they receive the same rate as their social protection payment plus €22.50.

CE participants can retain their medical card and can also retain any additional benefits they were entitled to on their underlying scheme prior to joining CE, for example Fuel Allowance, provided they continue to satisfy the qualifying conditions for those benefits.

Any increase in payments to CE participants is a matter for Budget 2023. CE participants will also receive any increase in underlying social welfare rates announced as part of the budgetary package.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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320. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will report on the criteria that must be met to enable community employment scheme participants to remain on a scheme beyond their allotted time in which replacement participants cannot be found; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47026/22]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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The aim of the Community Employment (CE) programme is to enhance the employability of disadvantaged and long-term unemployed people by providing work experience and training opportunities for them within their local communities. The programme aims to improve participants' opportunities to return to work in the labour market.

As the economy and society emerged from COVID, it was clear that some schemes were encountering difficulties maintaining services, as participants with COVID related extended contracts started to leave schemes from April 2022. This led to an increased turnover of participants which could have had an impact on services provided by schemes. As a consequence, Minister Humphreys and I introduced a number of reforms to CE, to minimise the impact on schemes and services they provide.

One of the changes introduced allowed CE participants whose contract term was coming to an end, to stay on CE until a replacement was referred to the scheme to take up this place. Any extension under this provision must be approved by officials from the Department and consideration will be given to the any remaining impact of COVID on the turnover and recruitment of participants, services provided by schemes, along with recruitment and referral efforts. Approximately 900 participants have had their contracts extended on this basis since the start of April.

It remains important that CE places are available for persons who are long term unemployed to assist them return to employment in the labour market. Therefore extensions are only approved in specific circumstances where an extension will not prevent an incoming long term unemployed person the opportunity to take up a CE place.

I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.