Vol. 490 No. 7
86 Mr. Allen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if non-nationals from outside the EU are entitled to participate in community employment schemes if they are on social welfare for more than 12 months; and if they have to apply for work permits in order to qualify for these schemes. [11149/98]
Community employment is a manpower intervention designed to enhance the employment prospects of long-term unemployed people and others who are having difficulty in re-entering or gaining a foothold in the Irish labour market.
Its objective is to provide temporary opportunity in the voluntary, community or public sectors whereby they could update existing skills which may have become rusty through prolonged unemployment, develop some new skills and also build up a recent record of work experience which is most important when trying to convince employers of their ability and experience to fill vacancies.
Persons who fulfill any of the following eligibility criteria are eligible to participate in the programme: those over 21 years and on unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance for at least 12 months and those over 21 years and on one parent family payment for over 12 months.
Special categories such as those referred to by the National Rehabilitation Board, programme refugees who have been granted the right to stay and work in Ireland, travellers on the live register or on one parent family payment for at least 12 months and EU citizens who fulfill any of the above eligibility criteria, either in Ireland or another EU country or both, can also participate.
As community employment is a labour market reintegration programme designed to target specific categories who are entitled to participate in the Irish labour market and intended to bring the persons concerned to a state of job readiness, the question of a work permit does not arise.
