Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton TD made the following speech during  tonight’s (Tues 7th Feb) Private Memebers Debate in the Dáil.

“ This government’s priority is jobs. We want to ensure that those on the live register are ready and able to return to work as soon as possible. This is why we are spending over €960 million on employment supports, including €315 million on CE schemes, in 2012. While the overall spending on employment supports will increase this year from the €882 million we spent in 2011, the spend on CE will be reduced.

At a time when the public finances are more constrained than ever before, this employment spending represents a very significant increase on 2011.

Currently, there are 1,143 community employment schemes in operation nationally with 23,300 places of which there are circa 22,000 participants and the 1,300 full-time equivalent supervisor posts.  

Even after the changes in One Parent Family Payments announced in the budget, a lone parent with two children who is an existing participant in a Community Employment scheme will receive a payment of €423 a week for 19.5 hours work. Previously, they were getting €460 a week. Due to the current economic circumstances and the need for the Department to find savings of €475 million in the Budget, it is necessary to examine all aspects of expenditure of my Department.

The savings of €27.5 million which we had identified in the Budget represents a reduction of 7.5% in the overall 2011 CE spending of €360 million. I have much personal experience of Community Employment and I recognise the valuable contribution that it can make. However if we are honest we have to say that not every community employment scheme has the same positive outcomes for the people who participate.

As Minister, I have to take very seriously what researchers are saying. For example, the 2011 NESC report ‘Supports and Services for Unemployed Jobseekers: Challenges and Opportunities in a Time of Recession’, was critical in terms of labour market progression. 

The 2011 ESRI Report, ‘What Can Active Labour Market Policies Do?’ noted that ‘participation in CE was not associated with increased post-programme employment chances’ and stated that ‘an analysis of the factors associated with long-term unemployment in the 2006-2008 period found that previous participation in a CE scheme was associated with an increased risk of long term unemployment, even when a range of personal characteristics and labour market experience was taken into account’. The authors stated that it is essential that investment  in employment supports “achieves the best value for money’ and that we allocate spending to schemes that “do most to enhance the employment prospects of those who participate in them’.

The earlier 2009 OECD Report on Activation Policies in Ireland had also raised a number of serious concerns in respect of the Community Employment Programme.  The authors noted that ‘CE now functions for some participants as low-paid public-sector employment.’ They said that ‘even allowing for the diversity of CE, Ireland should have scaled it back further during the long period of low unemployment, when its participants could more easily find regular jobs. They concluded that ‘The existing Community Employment (CE) programme should not be expanded greatly, even if unemployment increases as a result of the weaker economic conditions, partly because it was not downsized enough during the years of low unemployment’

A greater emphasis on reforming activation policies and associated measures is also a major condition of continued financial support from the Troika. But what the Troika fails to recognise is the intrinsic social value of some CE schemes which play such an important role in our communities, in particular by providing services like helping the disabled to live independently or delivering meals on wheels to our older citizens.

This, I think, is a point that tends to get lost in some of the purely economic analysis of CE schemes, which views them as not delivering sufficient progression into the labour market. While it is true that many CE schemes do need to improve the manner in which they provide labour activation services, there will always be a role for schemes that are primarily directed towards the provision of crucial social services, often for disadvantaged communities who are in dire need of services like childcare, elderly care and drug treatment programmes. The intrinsic social value of these schemes is not captured by conventional economic models, but in my view this is more a failing of conventional economics than of the schemes themselves. As Minister for Social Protection, I am determined to ensure that the contribution of such schemes is recognised in any future decisions on the future operation, funding and role of community employment.

My goal is to find a solution that takes account of the objectives of getting people ready for real jobs, getting value for money for the taxpayer and supporting schemes that deliver much needed social services.  I want to develop policies that help people keep close to the labour market taking into account advice on new employment growth areas and developing skills needs.

I am pleased that many CE schemes provide valuable qualifications to people who never had the opportunity to achieve that in their earlier lives.  Some 15,000 participants received FETAC awards in 2011.  In addition to this 10,000 other awards in occupational skills, health and safety by other awarding bodies were achieved.   It must be remembered that a very large number of CE participants have low educational achievement and, for these people CE provides a second chance to catch up and gain qualifications that can make them more employable.  However, not all schemes are sufficiently focused on the employability of  participants, the provision of the service by the scheme can sometimes take precedence over the needs of the individual.  Likewise for some schemes there is insufficient focus on progressing the individual into employment.

As Minister for Social Protection, I am determined to ensure that the positive contribution of schemes is recognised in any future decisions on the future operation, funding and role of community employment. I have asked for an initial review of the financial resources of all schemes to be completed by the end of  March 2012. This review is being carried out with the full involvement of scheme sponsors. Standard templates have been developed and issued to the Department’s staff responsible for these schemes to ensure consistency in approach. There is a considerable amount of variation across CE schemes in relation to the amount of training provided, materials required, overhead costs and the potential for sponsoring organisations to meet certain costs.  The review is also being carried out in the knowledge that there are community and voluntary organisations that receive funding from a multiplicity of state agencies and it maybe possible to achieve savings. There are also sponsoring organisations where income is generated as a result of the contribution of CE participants and there maybe potential for utilising some of these funds to cover project costs.

While a reduced level of grant for training and materials is unavoidable in 2012, given the budgetary position, we are making all efforts to minimise the impact of the reductions outlined. The financial review is identifying that certain schemes are better resourced than others and therefore are less reliant on the training and material grant for the successful operation of the schemes. The review is scheduled to be completed at the end of March.

Let me be clear: we will be ceasing the current practice of giving the same level of training and materials grants to all schemes irrespective of the length of time participants are on schemes.  There are approximately 2,000 participants on schemes for 5 years or more. Their need for training is considerably less than those who are new entrants.   Neither does the current approach take into account the varying requirements of schemes. In this regard it is anticipated that all CE schemes will see a reduction in the level of training and materials grants compared to 2011 but the reduction will vary according to the needs of participants and project circumstances. I have previously stated that no scheme will be forced to close as a result of the reduction in the materials and training grants during the period of the financial review. And despite all the noise, much of it stoked up by Sinn Fein and their ilk, I can tell the house that no CE scheme has closed as a result of the changes in the training and materials grant announced in the budget.

As I have stated repeatedly since the budget, there has always been significant flexibility and discretion for Department officials to vary the amount of the grant paid depending on the needs of individual schemes.  In practice, the internal guidance to officials is that up to €1,000 may be available to a scheme in respect of the training and materials grant for this year, subject to demonstration of need. I can also advise that I have instructed my officials that all discussions with sponsors on these matters are to be conducted in a constructive manner and that all support will be provided to help the schemes to remain viable where this makes sense. In addition, discussion and consultation with the main representative bodies and stakeholders involved in schemes will take place over the coming weeks in regard to funding. Separately my Department is undertaking a review of the effectiveness of a range of employment  support, activation and work schemes and Community Employment will be considered as part of this review. This review will help determine future policy regard to the role and the appropriate scale of activation programmes. The outcome of these reviews will inform the overall approach to be taken by my Department in regard to how to secure the best outcomes for the schemes and for their participants, taking account of the large amount of money we spend on community employment schemes and the valuable contribution that many of them make to their communities.

With regard to the concurrent entitlement to community employment and another social welfare payment from 16^th January 2012 NEW participants on CE will not be able to claim another social welfare payment while on CE. This will affect NEW participants in receipt of:

• One Parent Family Payment
• Deserted Wife’s Benefit
• Widow(er)’s Pension
• Illness Benefit
• Disability Allowance
• Invalidity Pension
• Blind Pension

 

The definition of “new participant” is a person who has not participated on CE in the preceding 12 months. The weekly rate of CE payable to new entrants will be the personal rate, the €20 top-up, plus increases for qualified adults and children, if applicable. In other words new participants will be treated in exactly the same manner as jobseekers have been up to now, that is, there is no entitlement to a jobseeker’s payment in addition to the full CE rate. Payment of two increases for each qualified child where the person is employed on a community employment scheme and in receipt of One Parent Family Payment, Deserted Wife’s Benefit or Widow(er)s Pension will cease for  EXISTING CE participants with effect from 20^th February 2012.  CE will no longer be paying  increases for qualified children for any of the above categories.  Existing CE participants will continue to receive increases for qualified children from their main social welfare payment.

 

At a time when the Social Protection budget must be reduced, we have to adhere to a principle that there should be one primary payment per person. If we are to maintain core social welfare rates, we have to find savings elsewhere. The previous government introduced massive increases in social welfare spending with relatively poor outcomes for welfare recipients, particularly lone parents. I want to spend the reduced budget in more effective ways. In particular, I want to ensure that the welfare system does not in any way deter lone parents and others from returning to work, education or training. I wish to give assurances that priority will continue to be given with regard to the allocation of places under the National Drugs Strategy,  where places are ring fenced for CE drug rehabilitation with the specific objective to ‘help recovering drug users develop their personal and employment skills and find a pathway back to work’.  I can confirm that 2,200 places on CE will continue to be provided to support community childcare services, and that there is no change in the number of places being provided to support social and health services in the community.  There has been no reduction in the number of CE places available for 2012″.