As part of the Government's decision in 1999 to restructure community employment, CE, future participation in CE by an individual was capped at three 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.
The three-year cap was amended in August 2001 to allow a limited number of particularly disadvantaged persons to remain on the programme for a further period. FÁS consider participants 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.
The terms of participation on CE are under continuing review. In this regard, senior officials in my Department are currently examining submissions received from the social partners in response to a Government consultation paper on the future of active labour market programmes. The outcome of this process will be taken into account by the Cabinet Committee on Social Inclusion, which will consider the matter further.
