Vol. 471 No. 7
365 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment if a policy decision has been made in relation to older men and women who were placed on community employment schemes on a three-year basis and are now reaching the end of their term on such schemes; if a further three-year extension can be given; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22229/96]
Community Employment (CE) is the main manpower intervention by the State in respect of the long-term unemployed and other special categories such as those referred by the National Rehabilitation Board (NRB) and lone parents. Its purpose is to provide temporary work experience together with some training that would assist those concerned in obtaining mainstream employment.
Participants are generally engaged for a 12 month period for an average of 39 hours per fortnight. However, some participants may be re-engaged for further periods with the agreement of FÁS where such participants are key participants and no other suitable eligible person is available or where the participant would benefit from additional training-development. In particular, participants on the part-time job option, which is targeted at those over 35 and more than three years unemployed, who have an annual contract of engagement for 12 months, can have their contract renewed for up to three years.
As CE is designed to provide temporary rather than on-going opportunities for unemployed people, any decision to provide extensions other than those outlined above would be contrary to the objective of the programme. Also, as the programme is operating close to capacity relative to available resources, such extensions would be at the expense of potential participants waiting for a place on the programme.
