Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 February 2021
408. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Social Protection the budget allocation for the youth employment support scheme in 2020 and 2021, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5192/21]
View answerThe Youth Employment Support Scheme (YESS) was introduced on 1st October 2018 and was open to applications from that date.
YESS was targeted at young jobseekers aged between 18 and 24 who are long-term unemployed or who face barriers to employment. The scheme aimed to provide jobseekers with the opportunity to learn basic work and social skills in a supportive environment while on a work placement. The scheme provided a supportive structure for participants, including case worker support for both placement hosts and jobseekers.
Since the scheme's inception, a total of 958 people have commenced a placement, while there are currently 87 participants on the YESS. To date, a total of 786 employers have provided YESS placements.
The type of work experience undertaken by participants involved roles across a number of different sectors including - community and voluntary, hospitality and food, ICT and telecoms, manufacturing, retail, sales and marketing, science and healthcare and construction. Recruitment to the scheme in the scheme was affected by Covid-19 during 2020, with fewer participants than anticipated and an associated reduction in scheme expenditure with an estimated outturn of €1.7 million for the year.
In the July Jobs Stimulus the government committed to a €200m investment in training, education, skill development, work placement schemes, recruitment subsidies and jobs search and assistance measures aimed to help those who have lost their jobs find a new one, retrain or develop new skills, in particular for emerging growth sectors. Included in this is provision for a funded work placement scheme to provide work experience for jobseekers who have been unemployed for more than six months regardless of age. A particular objective is to provide a mechanism for those with recent work experience or with sector specific skills to pivot into new employment/jobs through additional learning with new and relevant work experience.
Existing YESS participants will be given the option to transfer onto the new programme prior to its launch. Those who do not wish to transfer can complete their YESS scheme as usual. The budget allocations for YESS in 2020 and 2021 are set out in tabular format below.
Budget Allocations for YESS
|
2021 |
2020 |
|
€000 |
€000 |
|
2,440 |
3,350 |
