Press release
Ministers Humphreys and O’Brien announce further measures to support participants of CE and Tús Schemes
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys T.D., and Minister of State, Joe O’Brien T.D., have today announced further measures to support participants of Community Employment (CE) and Tús schemes.
Under the measures, CE and Tús participants’ contracts will be further extended until the end of October 2021.
This will benefit 7,000 participants who have been granted contract extensions since last October and whose contracts were due to end in July.
And the measure will benefit over 4,000 additional existing CE/ Tús participants whose contracts would ordinarily come to an end between July and October.
The supports being announced today will ensure the schemes can fully re-commence service delivery in local communities, while also supporting participants who have been long-term unemployed.
Many participants' time on the schemes has been adversely affected by public health restrictions and this latest extension will allow participants further opportunities to complete their training and work placement experience.
Importantly, this final extension will also allow CE and Tús schemes to conclude participants’ placements on a co-ordinated and phased basis.
This will also facilitate the planned increase in the rate of referrals to fill existing and new vacancies to ensure that opportunities to participate on the schemes continue to be available to those who are long term unemployed and furthest removed from the labour market.
From the end of October there will be a phased exit of those CE and Tús participants who have benefitted from this latest extension over a number of months up until February 2022.
To assist with this transitional arrangement, there will also be a short contract extension for those CE and Tús participants whose contracts would be normally due to end between November 2021 and February 2022.
Minister Humphreys commented:
“Work carried out by CE and Tús participants continues to be of huge importance to communities the length and breadth of the country.
“I am very conscious of the difficulties that a number of schemes have encountered during Covid-19.
“That’s why I am today providing this additional certainty to the thousands of participants over the coming months.
“It is also important that we maintain the path of progression through Employment Support Schemes.
“That’s why supporting participants to move into regular employment or education will continue to be a core objective of the programmes.”
The Minister added:
“Last year, as part of the July Jobs Stimulus Package, I secured approval for over 3,000 additional new places to support CE and Tús schemes.
“As we move beyond Covid-19 and our economy recovers, filling these places will be an absolute priority for my Department.
“Over the months ahead, it is my intention to significantly scale up the number of referrals from local Intreo offices to CE and Tús schemes.”
Minister O’Brien commented:
“I would also like to acknowledge the important role that the CE and Tús schemes play in providing valuable opportunities to participants in supporting the delivery of key services to local communities across the country.
“I look forward to meeting a number of CE and Tús schemes at a meeting of a recently established CE Forum today at which we will discuss a range of matters relating to employment programmes supported by the Department of Social Protection.
“The value of CE and Tús schemes for both participants and the communities within which they operate cannot be overstated.
“This is why we have continued to ensure that schemes and their participants have been supported to continue activities, in so far as was possible, during the pandemic and to try and ensure that all participants get maximum benefit from their time on the scheme.
“I again want to re-assure participants that exits from these schemes will be done on a phased basis to ensure an orderly continuation of services in local communities.”
Ends.
CE and Tús schemes are employment and activation support measures for long term unemployed people and other people in receipt of long-term payments from the Department of Social Protection.
The schemes employ participants to deliver a range of services to local communities throughout the country. These include local amenities management, environmental projects, arts and culture, sports, childcare, tidy towns, health-related services, meals on wheels and drug rehabilitation schemes. As well as contributing to the delivery of local services the participants, through their work on these schemes, develop a range of occupational skills and work experience that help to improve their own prospects of securing full-time employment.
Currently there are over 19,000 people participating in CE schemes and over 4,000 participants on Tús.
In 2020 the Department of Social Protection invested €425 million in CE and Tús schemes.