Minister Calleary announces grant funding of €1,000 to Community Employment Scheme sponsors

• An additional grant of €1,000 is being made available to Community Employment sponsor organisations for materials costs

The Minister for Social Protection, Dara Calleary TD, today announced that an additional grant of €1,000 is being made available to all Community Employment sponsor organisations for materials costs.

Community Employment supports long-term unemployed people to gain work experience and training to assist them in finding employment opportunities in the open labour market whilst also providing vital services in local communities.

Some 807 Community Employment (CE) schemes deliver a wide range of key community services, particularly in disadvantaged urban and rural areas. There are currently 19,659 participants on CE with an annual budget of over €415m allocated for 2026.

Commenting today, Minister Calleary said:

“As Minister for both Social Protection and Rural, Community Development and the Gaeltacht, I am delighted today to announce a grant of €1,000 being made available to Community Employment sponsor organisations for materials costs.

“Community Employment is a very important initiative across the entire country. As someone from a rural community, with first hand experience of the work undertaken in communities, I have always been a strong believer in the benefits and value of programmes like CE both for participants and for communities. I am confident that CE will continue to provide benefit and assistance in times to come to participants and communities alike.

“This grant demonstrates the Government’s commitment to the ongoing support of CE and to the valuable services that they deliver for communities, as well as the continued valuable work experience and training opportunities they provide to the long term unemployed. Participants on CE work part time to provide essential services to local communities. These schemes support a range of vital local services in areas such as childcare, tidy towns, meals on wheels, the maintenance and upkeep of local amenities and other vital work in our communities.

“The Government is conscious of the impact of rising costs on community groups across the country. That is why we are providing this additional support today. I know that this additional support will help alleviate concerns of many Community Employment sponsors.”

Notes:

Community Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged people with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a temporary, fixed term basis.

The CE sponsoring authorities employ participants to deliver a range of services to local communities throughout the country. As well as contributing to the delivery of local services, CE participants develop a range of occupational skills and work experience that help to improve their own prospects of securing full-time employment.

The types of work CE participants are involved in include local amenities management, environmental projects, arts and culture, sports, childcare, Tidy Towns, health-related services, meals on wheels and drug rehabilitation schemes.

CE sponsor organisations receive funding for the employment of both CE participants and CE supervisors. Funding is also provided towards training and materials costs. The materials grant is a contribution towards the running costs of the scheme and covers consumable services and materials necessary for the effective operation of the CE project including items such as employers and public liability insurance, tools, stationery, audit fees, bank charges (excluding bank interest), protective clothing and the hiring of equipment.

Today’s announcement refers to an additional €1,000 grant that is available to each CE sponsor organisation, arising from Budget 2026, for use in connection with their materials costs and the delivery of services to their communities.