Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 April 2012
497 Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Social Protection the progress being made by her to introduce a universal scheme of insurance for community employment participants administered by her; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17792/12]
View answerAs Community Employment (CE) participants are employees of the sponsoring organisation the Department is not in a position to put in place a universal scheme of insurance for such employees. However, I am aware of the variations and high costs associated with obtaining insurance for CE schemes. As a result officials from my Department had commenced a review of insurance and other costs with the objective of achieving value for money and cost reductions.
As a result of this review there are indications from the providers of such insurance that cover can be provided at a rate that reflects the costs at the lower end of the current scale of charges. This will result in a significant cost reduction for the Department in 2012.
498 Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Social Protection when she expects to have completed her review of community employment schemes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17793/12]
View answerThe financial review of Community Employment Schemes has proved to be a valuable exercise for both the schemes themselves and for my Department. The examination that is being carried out has yielded details of expenditure which at this early stage suggest that savings can be made in the administrative costs of schemes.
Given the volume and breath of the data being returned, the financial review of CE schemes will take longer than originally envisaged to complete. This will allow more time for schemes to engage with local officials in the finalisation of their respective budgets and for my Department to bring forward improvements to the overall operation of Community Employment which will improve the budgetary situation for schemes. The existing commitment in relation to the financial support of schemes will continue to apply.
