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Community Employment Schemes Eligibility

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 April 2013

Tuesday, 23 April 2013

Questions (349)

Seán Fleming

Question:

349. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Social Protection the date the rule changed regarding persons who can now spend only up to 12 months on community employment and the effective date for this change; if persons who were on community employment previously or at the time of the change will have their period prior to the change taken into account in calculating the 12 months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18395/13]

View answer

Written answers

Community Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a temporary, fixed term basis. CE helps unemployed people to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to a work routine and to assist them to enhance/develop both their technical and personal skills.

The basic rules governing the maximum duration a person can remain on Community Employment (CE) are unchanged since 2006. The maximum participation limits for CE are 3 years in total for those under 55 years of age, and 6 years in total for those of 55 to 65 years of age. Off-shore islander clients are exempt from CE participation caps. Persons in receipt of a qualifying disability-related social welfare payment are eligible for one additional year on top of these two limits, i.e., 4 years for those under 55 and 7 years for those of 55 to 65.

The actual length of time a person can remain on CE is dictated by a number of factors (as governed by the eligibility rules of CE):

- Age of the person

- Department of Social Protection (DSP ) payment and duration of receipt

- Previous participation on CE since 3rd April 2000

- Whether they are considered job-ready at their CE contract end-date

- Engagement under a person’s Individual Learner Plan (training & development)

- Budgetary limitations

The overall duration limits are strictly enforced to maximize the number of places available for potential clients.

There are two strands available on Community Employment (CE), namely Part-Time Integration Option (PTI), which is the one-year version of CE, and the Part-Time Job Option (PTJ), which is the three-year version of CE (subject to annually renewable contracts). All CE participant contracts are for 1 year’s duration at a time. The ratio of PTI to PTJ places is set at 75% PTI to 25% PTJ to maintain the throughput of participants. A maximum of 10% of participants on the PTI Option can be extended into a subsequent year’s participation. The annual renewal of PTJ participant contracts is subject to the factors mentioned above.

Eligibility for the PTI Option is generally determined by being in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment for a minimum of 12 months. For the PTJ Option, the qualifying period is 3 years in receipt. There are some exceptions to these qualifying periods for certain categories of participants. The only recent change to the CE operating Guidelines with respect to duration on the programme is that “time spent on CE no longer counts towards continued time on CE for new entrants who commence on or after 8 October 2012. Existing PTI participants can still have time spent on CE count as part of the qualifying period until they exit”.

Previous to this amended rule being introduced, time spent on CE counted towards the CE-qualifying period, so it was possible for a client commencing CE under the PTI Option who had only been in receipt for 12 months to avail of one year’s placement. If they happened to be in the 10% of PTIs extended into a second year, that would mean that the combination of their 12 months in receipt and two years on CE qualified them under the PTJ Option (i.e. 3 years on CE), thereby giving them a third consecutive year on CE. The emphasis on shorter-term interventions on CE as part of the Pathways to Work Initiative is to assist the maximum number of eligible persons via participation on the scheme. The current rules governing CE eligibility allow for 10% persons engaged on a year’s placement to have their time extended into a second year if they can demonstrate that they would benefit from such an extension.

The aim of CE still remains as an active labour market programme with the emphasis on progression into employment. There is a wide range of client groups which need access to CE – lone parents, persons with disabilities, stabilised substance abusers and unemployed persons. DSP at all times is obliged to accommodate the needs of all these groups in terms of participation on Community Employment. The programme is managed within this context, with consideration to the availability of resources and the needs of participants and the community.

Question No. 350 withdrawn.
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