Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 12 May 1999

Vol. 504 No. 5

Ceisteanna–Questions. - Community Employment Schemes.

Nora Owen

Ceist:

23 Mrs. Owen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the actions, if any, she has taken regarding the recommendations in a report (details supplied) on community employment schemes; if she sanctioned the reduction by 10 per cent of all community employment schemes which is being implemented in 1999; if her attention has been drawn to the effect these reductions are having on many valuable community projects; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12380/99]

Bernard J. Durkan

Ceist:

90 Mr. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if sufficient funds have been made available for the continuation of the community employment schemes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12443/99]

Ms Harney

I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 90 together.

I am currently engaged in a thorough consultation with the social partners in regard to the recommendations of the Deloitte & Touche report on the future of the community employment programme. I hope to conclude this process shortly. I have made no decision in regard to these recommendations. However, I fully recognise the value of community employment generally throughout the country. I am particularly conscious of its value at local level, where it assists community and statutory bodies, and I will take these factors into account in any decisions I make.

In parallel to the process of consultation currently ongoing, the Government in the 1999 Estimates reduced the number of community employment places by 2,500 but introduced a number of new initiatives to provide training and other supports for the unemployed and long-term unemployed in particular. Details of these new initiatives, providing a total of 10,275 places at a cost of almost £23 million are set out in a tabular statement which I will circulate in the Official Report. The additional places include 1,000 additional specific skills training places for under 25s who are long-term unemployed, 800 software-electronics training places, 4,800 Job Club places, 1,500 bridging training places for long-term unemployed, 800 flexible training places for lone parents and 400 Job Club places for lone parents.

New initiatives in 1999

Places	Provision
	£million
1,000 additional specific skills training places for under 25 stock of unemployed (majority likely to be LTU)	5.00
100+IT mainstreaming training places for LTU	0.900
800 Software-electronics training places	3.02
4,800 Job Club provision	2.05
1,500 LTU Bridging training places	4.35
800 Flexible training place provision for Lone Parents	1.08
875 Job Initiative places	4.09
400 Job Club places for Lone parents	0.20
Value	22.85

Mrs. Owen

Is the Tánaiste aware that managers in FÁS offices throughout the country have received an edict telling them that during 1999 they are to reduce the number of community employment places by 10 per cent by the end of the year? Is she aware of the effect this decision is having on many valuable community projects, for example, in the area of preparation for tidy towns and tidy districts competitions, community endeavours and so on? The National Gallery has lost people who were working on community employment schemes. Had she anything to do with that edict? She said she is still in discussion with the social partners. Why has this edict gone out before those discussions are finalised? Can she have it withdrawn?

Ms Harney

We have reduced the number of places from 40,000 to 37,500, by 2,500. We have done that not just because of the recommendations of Deloitte & Touche but because we want people to go into more mainstream training. I want to provide more worthwhile training places so that people can progress from training into a real job in the marketplace. Forty thousand was established as the level for community employment at a time when unemployment was at 16 per cent. Unemployment is now down to 6.5 per cent. One of the major problems is the emerging skills shortage. We have to train people for the new jobs being created. We are having discussions with the social partners. Anything that is done will be done on the basis of agreement. Any changes in community employment will be replaced by training places in full training pro grammes. As I said in my response, there are 10,200 more people in training this year than was the case last year, and many of those training places are reserved and ring-fenced for long-term unemployed people. Long-term unemployed people want opportunities to get a job in the real labour market. I am aware of the valuable work done by community employment, and in conjunction with consideration of the Deloitte & Touche report, I am preparing proposals on the social economy, which I will bring to the Cabinet very shortly. I agree there is a huge role for community-based schemes in schools, with voluntary groups, in regard to the tidy towns competition and many other activities that cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, ever be commercial but which are very worthwhile and give valuable experience to unemployed people. We will keep all of that in mind as we develop our concept for the social economy. At the end of all of that, I am certain that what is happening around the country in relation to community employment will be maintained. It will be done in agreement with the social partners, and in a way that provides worthwhile opportunities for those who participate.

Mrs. Owen

Will the Tánaiste confirm that as and from today any group can replace a person who has come to the end of his or her period of work on a community employment scheme?

Ms Harney

No. I cannot, because that has never been the case.

Mrs. Owen

There is still work to be done on it.

Ms Harney

Even when the Deputy's Government was in office, it was never the case that every single community employment scheme was maintained. Sometimes schemes end and other schemes start.

Mrs. Owen

But what if there is a need for them?

Ms Harney

Where there is a need, yes, if possible, subject to the budgetary figures. The figure of 37,500 is an enormous number of people in an economy that is booming and where 1,000 jobs are being created each week. We want to ensure that money that is spent on training and community employment is targeted at those who need it most so they can get the kind of experience that will equip them for a real job, which is what this is all about. As the social economy element, hopefully, develops over the years, we will be able to take up the kind of suggestion that Deputy Owen has mentioned – a worthwhile activity for people who wish to stay in a community based project and may not want to move into a job in the real economy. We are seeking to do both on a basis of consensus, in line with Partnership 2000 and the suggestions that came from the voluntary sector in relation to the social economy.