Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 March 2022
81. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of roles that have been filled in the Work Placement Experience Programme; the cost of the scheme to the Exchequer since its inception; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7060/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Work Placement Experience Programme (WPEP) is a key policy initiative under the Government's new national employment services strategy; Pathways to Work 2021-2025. WPEP is a funded work placement scheme to provide work experience opportunities for up to 10,000 jobseekers who are unemployed for more than six months, including time spent on the pandemic unemployment payment (PUP). Participation on WPEP is entirely voluntary. All participants are paid €311 per week plus any social welfare increases for qualified adults and children.
As of 11th March 2022, 276 participants have been approved for a placement on WPEP, with 174 currently participating and 20 placements are approved to start shortly. 29 participants have completed the 6 month programme with another 51 participants finishing early due to a variety of reasons, including 19 who found employment while on the programme. There are 108 WPEP opportunities currently advertised on JobsIreland.
Of those approved 45% are male and 55% are female. The Sector with the largest percentage of WPEP placement(s) for those approved is Health and Social Work at 19% followed by Wholesale and Retail Trade at 17%. The largest age cohort are those under 30 years of age which accounts for 50% of participants.
The cost to the Exchequer since the programme commenced is €1.153m.
The scope of the work experience on offer for each placement is reviewed in advance to ensure that the roles are training and learning opportunities consistent with the objectives of the programme. To assist participants to achieve the requirement for 20 hours accredited training work, a new WPEP Work Placement award designed and delivered by the Education and Training Boards is available to participants. All host organisations must also demonstrate that they can provide supervision and mentoring to participants and Case Officers liaise with the host and the participant to ensure progress is being made by the participant in the personal learning plan agreed with the host. The Case Officer is also available to provide advice and support to both the host and the participant during the placement.
As the economy and labour market continues to recover from COVID, work is ongoing to encourage take-up on this programme by employers and jobseekers. A particular focus is on jobseekers whose previous employment has not returned post COVID - who will require support to reskill and retrain to find new jobs, at times in new sectors. I am pleased to see that post COVID labour market trends and unemployment levels are much more positive than had been forecast.
I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
