Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 25 Sep 1996

Vol. 469 No. 1

Written Answers. - Community Employment Schemes.

Mary Wallace

Question:

600 Miss M. Wallace asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment his views on whether certain organisations employ a large number of persons under community employment schemes and that they must allocate significant resources to administering these schemes which places a considerable burden on voluntary organisations; and if he will consider making an allowance for such administrative costs for organisations employing over a set minimum number of persons on such schemes. [16909/96]

Minister for Enterprise and Employment (Mr. R. Bruton)

Grants to voluntary/community bodies who sponsor community employment in respect of overhead costs are paid on a sliding scale based on the number of participants in an individual project. Such grants, however, are not intended to cover total costs but rather a portion of same with the balance being raised locally. The reasoning behind this policy is that sponsors of projects obtain valuable secondary benefits from sponsoring a project and as such it is felt that they should make some contribution from their own resources towards the cost of the project.

For the information of the Deputy, the following table sets out in detail the levels of grant-aid available to voluntary/community organisations in respect of overhead costs:

(a) Weekly Grant towards Supervision Costs

Projects Providing Development Modules

	Grant towards Supervision
	£
11-14 Participants	216
15-29 Participants	303
30 or more Participants employing a Supervisor	303
30 or more Participants employing a Supervisor and an Assistant Supervisor	493

Projects not providing Development Modules

	£
1-4 Participants	No Grant
5-14 Participants	187
15 or more Particpants	212

(b) Materials/other Overhead Costs (Grant per person per week)

	Grant
	£
Projects providing development modules	12
Projects not providing development modules	10