Vol. 514 No. 6
124 Mr. Penrose asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath, who is signing on for credits and not receiving any payment, was precluded from participating in a community employment scheme in 1999; if she will be allowed to participate on the community employment scheme for a very worthy project in March 2000; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5130/00]
Community employment, CE, is a work experience programme targeted at the long-term unemployed. To be eligible to participate in CE a person must be in receipt of a payment in respect of unemployment assistance, unemployment benefit, qualified adults, one parent family payment or widows/widowers pension for a minimum period of 12 months, or referred by the National Rehabilitation Board. Persons signing for credits are not eligible.
Limited resources do not make it possible to provide CE for all unemployed persons. Therefore, it is essential to target the programme at those most in need. The current eligibility criteria were introduced in July 1999 following a detailed review of the programme and in response to the recommendations of the Deloitte & Touche report on CE.
Operational responsibility for the delivery of CE, including the allocation of places, is an operational matter for FÁS as part of its responsibilities under the Labour Services Act, 1987
