Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 March 2018
247. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason some community employment schemes are of two, three and six years in duration; the process and criteria for the way in which a person can extend their community employment scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10534/18]
View answerIn the context of the economic recovery, my Department undertook a review of the work programmes in 2016. Arising from the review, the Government agreed to implement changes to the qualifying conditions for Community Employment (CE) in order to broaden access to a wider range of people.
These new rules were implemented from July 2017. In general all placements will now be for one year only - if a CE participant is undertaking training to achieve a major award, their time can be extended by up to 2 year to allow them to complete the training which will enhance their overall employment prospects. This allows for 3 years continuous participation on CE. Those over 55 years of age can also remain on CE for three years. An overall lifetime limit of 6 years will apply to CE participants (7 years if on a disability payment). A person may re-qualify for CE after 12 months of being in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment, provided they have not reached their 6 year overall lifetime limit.
Participation on CE is intended to be for a temporary fixed-term. These placements are not full-time sustainable jobs. Overall participation limits are in place to ensure that as many unemployed people as possible are able to benefit from the scheme. My Department’s priority in supporting work programmes is to provide access to good quality work experience and training qualifications to support the progression into employment of jobseekers and other vulnerable groups.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
