Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 May 2021
420. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Social Protection the plans that have been put in place for extending community employment schemes for participants who have not been in a position to avail of the training and experience afforded by the scheme due to Covid-19 restrictions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23091/21]
View answerCommunity 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.
In general CE placements for new entrants aged between 21 and 55 years are for 1 year. As the Deputy may be aware, CE participants who are working towards a Quality and Qualifications Ireland or QQI major award can seek to extend their participation on CE by up to 2 years to enable them to reach the required standard of qualification. CE participants aged 55 years or older can remain on CE for 3 years and do not have to work towards a QQI major award. A number of CE participants who are aged over 55 who commenced on the scheme before 2017 can stay on CE for six consecutive years. Therefore, CE participants across a range of cohorts have considerable periods of time to complete the training and development elements of CE. Training and work experience received by CE participants are important components of the CE schemes which I fully support.
As the Deputy is aware, my Department has continued to provide funding and support for CE schemes since the onset of the Covid-19 emergency in March 2020. Furthermore, a number of CE schemes, which provide essential community services, have been in a position to continue to deliver these services, while complying with the public health restrictions that have been in place during each period of restrictions.
During the periods of Level-5 restrictions, those CE participants, whose contracts were due to end, have had their contracts extended for the duration of those restrictions. In early March 2021, Minister Humphreys and I announced funding for a further CE contract extension for participants, up until 2nd July 2021. Over 7,000 CE and Tús participants will benefit from this latest contract extension, that applies to all participants whose contracts were due to finish since end-October 2020.
It is important to note that when CE participants are eventually due to finish on their respective schemes, this will be undertaken on a coordinated, phased basis over a number of months, providing further opportunities for the completion of training and additional work experience.
Some CE participant training has continued online during the Level-5 restrictions. However, where a CE participant finishes up on their CE scheme without completing the training outlined in their Individual Learning Plan and if unfortunately, they remain unemployed, they may continue their development through a range of training supports provided by my Department such as the Training Support Grant and the Back to Education Allowance. Department case officers will engage with former CE participants to discuss the available options.
Contract extension dates will continue to be monitored in line with Government public health restrictions in place over the coming months. The priority for my Department is to ensure that all employment and activation programmes have the best outcomes for participants. CE will continue to be made available to support those who are long term unemployed and furthest removed from the labour market, while maintaining the role of CE as an active labour market programme. It is not proposed to further-extend participant contracts at this juncture.
I am fully committed to the future of CE and will continue to support and improve the programme for the benefit of the CE participants and the valuable contribution being made to local communities through the provision of services.
