Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 June 2021
163. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of young persons under 25 years of age on the youth employment support scheme in January 2020 and January 2021; the funding allocated to support young persons under 25 on the scheme in 2020 and 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30118/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Youth Employment Support Scheme (YESS) was introduced on 1st October 2018 and has been open to applications since. YESS targeted young jobseekers aged between 18 and 24 who are long-term unemployed or who face barriers to employment. The scheme aimed to provide jobseekers with the opportunity to learn basic work and social skills in a supportive environment while on a work placement. The scheme provided a supportive structure for participants, including case worker support for both placement hosts and jobseekers.
Since the scheme's inception, a total of 990 people have commenced a placement, with 50 jobseekers currently on YESS placements.
The type of work experience undertaken by participants involved roles across a number of different sectors including - community and voluntary, hospitality and food, ICT and telecoms, manufacturing, retail, sales and marketing, science and healthcare and construction. Recruitment to the scheme in the scheme was severely affected by Covid-19 during 2020, with fewer hosts advertising vacancies due to temporary suspension of operations and social mobility and distancing requirements.
While €2.44m was allocated to the scheme for 2020, provisional estimates of expenditure show an outturn of €1.7 million for the year. The Budget allocation for the scheme this year is €3.35m.
In the month of January 2020 there were 297 active participants on YESS with 59 closures and 46 new starts that month. By comparison, in January 2021 there were 131 active participants on YESS.
I intend to shortly launch a new work placement scheme to provide work experience for jobseekers who have been unemployed, including time spent on PUP, for more than six months regardless of age. A particular objective is to provide a mechanism for those with recent work experience or with sector specific skills to pivot into new employment/jobs through additional learning with new and relevant work experience.
Existing YESS participants will be given the option to transfer onto the new programme prior to its launch, subject to the agreement of both the host and the participant. If either party wishes to maintain the existing arrangement, they will be able to complete their YESS scheme under the existing terms.
The budget allocations for YESS in 2020 and 2021 are set out in tabular format below.
Budget Allocations for YESS
|
2021 |
2020 |
|
€000 |
€000 |
|
2,440 |
3,350 |
