My department operates a number of employment support schemes which assist communities across the country in the provision of vital services. Currently, there are some 27,000 participants engaged on the three main schemes: Community Employment, Tús and the Rural Social Scheme.
Community Employment 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.
Tús is a community work placement initiative that provides short-term, quality work opportunities in community and voluntary sectors for those who are unemployed for more than a year.
The RSS is an income support initiative that provides part-time employment opportunities in community and voluntary organisations for farmers or fishermen who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments and who are underemployed in their primary occupation.
Last year Minister Humphreys and I introduced the Employment Support Services Operation Forum where we, along with department officials, meet representatives from CE, Job Initiative, RSS and Tús schemes. This Forum now meets three to four times a year and provides a valuable opportunity to discuss operational issues arising on the schemes that are impacting on service delivery in the communities. Both Minster Humphreys and I find the meetings to be extremely informative and a very worthwhile opportunity for constructive exchanges of views and ideas with schemes.
Departmental staff, through the local CE community development officers, work closely with schemes on all aspects of their operation while department officials meet centrally with various groups and organisations such as the Drugs Advisory Group and the Irish Local Development Network.
Minister Humphreys and I also interact regularly with schemes at ground level by visiting and engaging with schemes throughout the country. These schemes provide valuable services within communities and the range of work undertaken by participants ranges from the delivery of meals on wheels, the provision of childcare, caretaking and environmental works and other community and voluntary services. I have been hugely impressed by the range and value of the work undertaken on these schemes, many of which I have had the opportunity to visit and witness at first hand.
In order to further assist schemes maintain services in the current tight labour market, Minister Humphreys informed Government at the end of June of additional measures we are now introducing to CE, Tús and RSS. These will improve recruitment, remove the six year time limit on RSS for all participants while continuing the practice whereby placements can be extended until suitable replacements are available to fill vacancies. These reforms will ensure that schemes have sufficient participants to continue to deliver services across the country; in both urban and rural areas.
The Department is fully committed to the future of employment support programmes and will continue to support and improve them for the benefit of the supervisors, team leaders and participants, given the valuable contribution being made to local communities through the provision of services.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
