Vol. 553 No. 2
134 Dr. Upton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will report on the uptake of the social economy programme; the expectations in this regard to the end of 2002; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13641/02]
The approved budget for the social economy programme in 2002 is €20.55 million. FÁS, which has day-to-day responsibility for the implementation of the social economy programme has advised that in relation to the uptake of this programme to date: 727 applications for business plan grant support have been received; 531 business plan grants of up to €5,080 have been approved; 227 social economy enterprises – with approximately 1,200 grant supported employees – have been approved for full start up grant support; and of these 227 social economy enterprises, a total of 158 have commenced operations currently employing 882 grant supported employees.
There is currently a very strong pipeline of social economy enterprises. This will lead to a continuing increase in the level of grant supported employment over the remainder of the year as both existing enterprises take on new employees and a further number of enterprises commence operations. There will be a continuing emphasis on enterprise proposals, which have the greatest chance of providing sustainable employment opportunities for the long-term unemployed and disadvantaged persons.
