The parliamentary question of 25 June 1996 referred to by the Deputy was answered by my colleague, the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, who has responsibility for the eligibility conditions for participation in community employment. The reply to the question indicated that resources constraints ruled out the possibility of extending the eligibility categories to include those on the live register signing for "credits" only.
Participation in my Department's work supportive schemes in the case of unemployed people is also subject to certain live register requirements. These requirements are the same for men and women. In the case of the back to work allowance, unemployed people must be aged 23 years or over, have been signing the live register for at least 12 months and in receipt of a payment from my Department. As regards second chance education schemes such as the second level initiative and the third level allowance, the minimum age requirement is 21 years while the unemployed person must have been on the live register for at least six months and getting a payment from my Department.
I have no plans to vary the requirement that a person must be in receipt of a payment from the department, as the basis of the schemes is the retention of such payment while engaged in work or education.
