I acknowledge the valuable contribution made by Community Employment (CE) projects providing services for persons with a disability in providing a service to both participants and the community. However due to the current economic circumstances, this Department has had to find significant savings in the Budget for 2012. The reduction only applies to the grant for materials and training and represents a reduction of 7.5% of the overall expenditure on CE in 2011. The allowance grants for Supervisors are unchanged, as are the working hours for staff employed under CE.
A financial review of CE schemes is underway. This review has proved to be a valuable exercise for both the schemes themselves and for the Department. No final allocations of materials and training grants have been made pending completion of the review. There will be no decrease in the number of Community Employment places, 23,300, allocated in 2012. The existing commitment in relation to the financial support of schemes will continue to apply.