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Community Employment Scheme Numbers

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 July 2013

Tuesday, 9 July 2013

Questions (92)

Pearse Doherty

Question:

92. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide details of the local authority community employment scheme announced in budget 2013; and the number of persons who are currently participating in this scheme. [33261/13]

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Written answers

The Government, as part of the Budget package for 2013, announced a number of initiatives focused on providing work opportunities for jobseekers, including the provision of 10,000 additional work placements across a number of schemes. The additional placements on community employment, Tús and JobBridge have already been rolled-out and are in the process of being filled by the sponsoring organisations and implementing bodies. The Budget package introduced a new initiative with local authorities to provide part-time work opportunities. This is in line with the commitments set out in the Action Plan for Jobs and Pathways to Work.

The design of this initiative which is called Gateway has been largely completed and local authorities have been engaged in a process of identifying the nature of work and range of opportunities that can be made available across their administrative and operational areas. Local authorities have been asked to complete consultations with staff representative bodies and other key stakeholders to enable the scheme to commence on a staged basis over the coming months.

Currently, 13 local authorities have agreed to lead out the first wave of Gateway and selection of participants will commence shortly by the Department of Social Protection. Following referral of interested customers by the Department, each local authority will conduct their own recruitment process, involving skill profiling, job matching and vetting by An Garda Síochána before a person is assigned to a position. The 13 local authorities have identified some 800-1,000 places for immediate recruitment with the objective of beginning work in late September/early October 2013 (pending improvements in the timeframe for Garda Vetting).

In addition to the above local authorities six to eight city and county councils intend to commence operations with a view to adding 500-800 placements by end October 2013. The remaining places will be filled in 2014 (pending completion of selection, recruitment and vetting processes).

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