My Department's employment support services consists of three pillars which are designed to assist and encourage long-term unemployed and other long-term welfare recipients to return to work, training or further education.
The first pillar is the "Back To Work" allowance scheme which incentivises and encourages long-term unemployed people, lone parents and certain people with disabilities to return to work by allowing them to retain part of their social welfare payment when they take up employment or self-employment.
Last year I introduced an enhanced version of this scheme specifically targeted at people who had been five years or more on the Live Register. People participating in this can avail of a six week training period either on or off the job and during this period receive a top up of £35 a week in addition to their weekly unemployment payment. When they take up employment they will be paid a bonus of £200 and a further payment also of £200 after they have completed six months work.
The "Back to Work" allowance scheme has been highly successful since its introduction and to date more than 75,000 people, the vast majority of whom were previously long-term unemployed, have taken part in the scheme. Currently there are more than 36,000 participants in the scheme, approximately half of whom are engaged in a wide range of self employment options.
The second pillar of my Department's employment support service is the "Back to Education" allowance programme. This is a second chance educational opportunities programme designed to encourage and facilitate unemployed people, lone parents and people with disabilities to improve their skills and qualifications with a view to returning to the work force. Courses covered under the scheme range from second level through to third level postgraduate courses of study.