Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 September 2020
504. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Social Protection if community employment and Tús schemes can be extended by six months for participants due to finish in view of the fact that some participants lost out on six months due to Covid-19 and other participants worked tirelessly during the pandemic and training new participants will be much more difficult due to Covid-19. [24712/20]
View answerMy Department provides a range of supports and programmes catering for the unemployed and those most distant from the labour market. These supports include programmes such as Community Employment (CE) and Tús.
CE is designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons, countrywide, with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a temporary, fixed term basis.
In general, the period of participation on CE is for one year. However, CE participants who are working towards a major award or industry qualification can seek to extend participation by up to a further two years. A significant number of CE participants each year avail of an extension in order to continue training and obtain qualifications and major awards.
The Tús initiative commenced operation in 2011 as a response to the high level of unemployment and the large numbers on the live register. It is a community work placement initiative which aims to provide short-term work opportunities for those who are unemployed for more than a year.
The duration of each Tús contract is for a maximum of 12 months to ensure that as many people as possible who are long-term unemployed are able to benefit from the initiative.
During the recent Covid-19 emergency, my Department continued to provide the necessary funding for both initiatives, CE and Tús, while also introducing a number of contingency measures. These measures included the extension of all existing participant contracts for the duration of the emergency, allowing many of its scheme participants to continue to deliver a range of services to the community.
In keeping with the Government’s Return to Work Safely Protocol, the recruitment of new CE and Tús participants recommenced in July. Those participants who had their contracts extended during the emergency period have been exiting their placements on a gradual basis over recent months.
At this time there are no plans to change the current duration on CE or Tús. While I understand that a number of both CE and Tús participants would like to remain on the schemes, the Deputy will appreciate that any further extensions would have a detrimental effect on other long-term unemployed candidates wishing to avail of the opportunities afforded by those schemes.
The priority for my Department is to ensure that all employment and activation programmes have the best outcomes for participants. Places on these work programmes will continue to be available to support those who are long term unemployed and furthest removed from the labour market, while sustaining their role as active labour market activation programmes.
