Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 September 2021
273. Deputy Martin Browne asked the Minister for Social Protection if there are plans to allow persons who are near retirement age and participating in a Tús scheme to remain on the Tús schemes for an additional year until they are entitled to an old age pension; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47295/21]
View answerTús is a labour market activation measure delivered as short-term, community-based work placements for jobseekers on the live register that have been unemployed for more than one year.
The objective of Tús is help the participant return to the labour market through the provision of supervised work placements within the community, building work experience and individual participant confidence.
The duration of the Tús participant contract ensures that the greatest number of placements can continue to be available to jobseekers who are long-term unemployed. This allows jobseekers who are unemployed for more than 12 months to benefit from a period of focused work-experience and to be well-placed to re-enter the labour market at an early opportunity.
Increasing the duration of Tús placements for those that are near retirement age would reduce both the focus of the short-term work placement and the number of available placements for eligible jobseekers, with a potential adverse affect on future candidates who are on the live register.
For jobseekers approaching retirement age who continue to require the option of supported employment, further opportunity in this regard is provided by my Department through the Community Employment (CE) scheme. The commencement of a CE placement is available as a progression path for a jobseeker on the completion of Tús, and this can be accessed with the assistance of a case officer.
The dedicated service support stream of CE can facilitate participants over the age of 62 to remain on the scheme until they reach the State pension age, subject to certain criteria.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, my Department has continued to provide funding for Tús, and introduced a number of contingency measures including the extension of all existing participant contracts, allowing participants to continue to deliver a range of services to their communities.
With the exception of the contract extensions that were introduced in response to the extraordinary public health circumstances of the last year, there are no plans to extend the duration of Tús placements beyond one year.
