Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 July 2004
65 Mr. Kehoe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she intends to remove the 156 weeks cap on persons who are currently on community employment schemes; and the number of persons in 2004 who will not be allowed to continue on a community employment scheme due to the three year cap rule. [20890/04]
View answerAs part of the Government's decision in 1999 to restructure community employment, or CE, future participation in CE by an individual was capped at 3 years, effective from April 2000. All time worked on CE after this date is taken into account by FÁS when determining an individual's eligibility for the programme. This change was introduced to discourage repeated participation in CE and to encourage unemployed persons to avail of training-education options where possible, which are shown to have more successful progression outcomes for individuals. At present there are 20,114 persons registered on CE schemes. Over the period 1 June 2004 to 31 May 2005 approximately 3,478 of these participants will have reached the three year limit on completion of their current contracts.
The three year cap was amended in August 2001 to allow particularly disadvantaged persons to remain on the programme for a further period. Participants are considered for such an extension if on reaching the end of their normal entitlements on CE they are likely to experience difficulty in getting employment. A number of CE participants have difficulty in progressing to open labour market employment due to their age, literacy or numeracy problems or a lack of suitable jobs available locally.
Certain aspects of the focus and the terms of participation on CE are under continuing examination including further consultation with the social partners. The outcome of this process will inform any future adjustments in the structure and the terms and conditions of participation on the CE programme.
