Vol. 503 No. 6
89 Mr. Shatter asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her attention has been drawn to the widespread concern by community and voluntary organisations at the possibility of being able to acquire staff under the community employment scheme; and the plans, if any, she has for the scheme. [10748/99]
I am engaging in widespread consultation with interested parties including the social partners in regard to the recommendations of the Deloitte & Touche report on the future of the community employment programme. I have made no decision in regard to these recommendations. However, I fully recognise the value of community employment generally throughout the country. I am particularly conscious of the value of the scheme to voluntary and community bodies and I will be taking these factors into account in any decisions I make.
In parallel to the process of the consultation currently ongoing the Government in the 1999 Estimates reduced the number of community employment places by 2,500 but introduced a number of new initiatives to provide training and other supports for the unemployed and long-term unemployed in particular. Details of these new initiatives, providing a total of 10,275 places are as follows:
New initiatives in 1999
|
Places |
Provision |
|
£m |
|
|
1,000 additional specific skills training places for under 25 stock of unemployed (majority likely to be LTU) |
5 |
|
100+ IT mainstreaming training places for LTU |
0.900 |
|
800 Software/electronics training places |
3.2 |
|
4,800 Job Club provision |
2.5 |
|
1,500 LTU Bridging training places |
4.35 |
|
800 flexible training place provision for Lone Parents |
1.8 |
|
875 Job Initiative places |
4.9 |
|
400 Job Club places for Lone Parents |
0.20 |
|
Value |
22.85 |
