asked the Minister for Labour if persons who undergo a six-month FÁS sponsored community enterprise scheme maintain their entitlements to the Christmas social welfare bonus, butter vouchers, fuel vouchers, and access to help under social welfare assistance.
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Entitlements.
119.
Grants and wage subsidies payable under FÁS employment programmes, including the community enterprise programme, are not related to individual levels of entitlement to social welfare payments. Consequently, an individual engaged in an employment programme may not simultaneously claim unemployment compensation from the Department of Social Welfare.
However, participants over 18 years old on FÁS training programmes receive standard training allowances equivalent to their social welfare entitlements at the start of the course, subject to a minimum of the personal urban long term unemployment assistance rate. To maintain parity with social welfare payments, eligible trainees who received the appropriate certificate of their entitlements from their local employment exchanges were given additional allowances equivalent to the value of their Christmas bonus and fuel allowance. My policy is that individuals should not lose out because of their participation in training programmes.
As regards butter vouchers, these are a matter for the Minister for Social Welfare but are governed by EC regulations which restrict them to those in receipt of social welfare assistance payments. I should add that FÁS trainees receive a meal allowance for each training day.