Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 27 Nov 1996

Vol. 472 No. 2

Written Answers. - Employment and Training Schemes.

Seán Power

Ceist:

35 Mr. Power asked the Minister for Social Welfare the action, if any, he is taking to ensure that women who wish to return to paid work have access to employment and training schemes operated under the auspices of his Department in line with the recommendations of a recent report published by the Employment Equality Agency. [22170/96]

Minister for Social Welfare (Proinsias De Rossa)

The primary employment and training schemes operated under the auspices of my Department are the back-to-work allowance scheme (BTWAS) and the second chance education schemes. The BTWAS has proved to be extremely successful in providing a major incentive to the long-term unemployed and to lone parents to re-enter the active labour force either in employment or in self-employment. I was pleased to announce recently that a further 2,000 places are being provided under the scheme, bringing the total number of places up to 17,000.

Under the scheme the unemployed and lone parents can retain up to three-quarters of their weekly entitlement and a range of their secondary benefits for three years. This helps to provide a vital financial cushion during the early years of employment or self-employment.

The recent report published by the Employment Equality Agency entitled Pathways to Employment for Women Returning to Paid Work acknowledges that the specific objectives of the scheme justify a focus on persons in receipt of social welfare payments. While the report suggests it is arguable that the scheme should be extended to include adult dependants, it does not advance any compelling arguments in support of this view. The EEA report also proposes that the second chance education schemes operated by my Department be extended to the adult dependants of persons in receipt of relevant social welfare payments and to deserted wives and survivors in financial need.

A major priority for the Government at the moment is to improve access for disadvantaged people to employment or to activities that will increase their opportunities to secure employment. The range of measures which we have introduced this year — including, for example, substantial PRSI reductions, the retention of child dependant allowances for the long-term unemployed who are taking up unemployment, the increase in the number of places available under the back-to-work allowance scheme, and improvements in the family income supplement — demonstrate the seriousness of the Government's intentions in this area.

In designing measures which will have a tangible and lasting effect on the problem of long-term unemployment, there is clearly a need to optimise the deployment of the available resources. In this context, it is appropriate that the schemes operated by my Department should continue to be targeted at the people who are wholly or mainly dependent on long-term welfare payments.