South Dublin Community
Platform Conference:
Community Employment more
than activation?
Bríd O’Brien,
Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed
 Changing from ‘activation in a time of
recession’ to ‘activation for a recovery’
 Two main objectives:
Pathways to
Work
2015 – 2016:
Objectives
 Continue and consolidate the progress
made to date with an initial focus on
working with unemployed jobseekers, in
particular people who are long-term
unemployed; and
 Extend the approach of labour market
activation to other people who, although
not classified as unemployed jobseekers,
have the potential and the desire to play
an active role in the labour force.
1. Enhanced engagement with unemployed
people of working age: 15 actions
Pathways to
Work
2016 - 2020:
Six Strands
2. Increase the employment focus of
activation programmes and opportunities:
10 actions
3. Making work pay – incentivise the take-up
of opportunities: 12 actions
4. Incentivising employers to offer jobs and
opportunities to unemployed people: 18
actions
5. Build organisational capability to deliver
enhanced services to people who are
unemployed: 16 actions
6. Building Workforce Skills: 15 actions
 Move 20,000 long term unemployed into employment
 Reduce the persistence rate from 27% to 24%
 Increase the exit rate of people on the Live Register
for two years or more to 44%
Pathways to
Work 2016
Targets
 Fully implement the JobPath programme and refer at
least 60,000 long term unemployed people
 300 new employers signed up to the Employment and
Youth Activation Charter
 Reduce the ratio between youth and overall
unemployment from 2.2:1 to 2.1:1
 Increase the engagement frequency for one-to-one
meetings for Low PEX and LTU clients from 6 to 12
meetings per year
 Target an aggregate progression to employment rate
across activation programmes of 40%
Four Types
of
Activation
Schemes
Work Programmes e.g.
Community Employment
Internships e.g. JobBridge
Training and education e.g.
Back to Education Allowance
Self-employment supports
e.g. Back to Work Enterprise
Allowance
 86 Actions
 Community Employment; JobBridge;
Back to Work Enterprise Allowance
noticeable by their absence.
Pathways to
Work and
Activation
Schemes
 Action 4.1, Strand 2: Increase the
relative share of workplace-based
interventions (Gateway, TÚS, Positive to
Work etc.) for youth unemployed.
 Action 24.2, Strand 5: Publish from Q3
2016 performance statistics relating to
the cost and performance of contracted
providers including JobPath, LES / Job
Clubs.
Possible modified typology of DSP activation schemes post previous review (Figure 7 )
Labour Market
Leverage
Supply - Training
Market Orientation Weak
Market Orientation Strong
Certain Back to Education
Allowance (BTEA)
Greater % of BTEA courses –
courses in areas of identified labour
shortages & containing work
experience elements
Certain Part Time Education
Allowance (PTEO)

Certain accelerated programmes
allowed under BTEA
Certain short term, full time
courses allowed under PTEO
Demand Employment
Community Employment (CE)
and Tús – Shorter duration –
greater emphasis on job search
and progression planning

JobBridge – now catering for larger
encatchment
Back to Work Enterprises
Allowance
Sort Term Enterprise Allowance
Activation
Programmes
February
2008
February
2010
February
2012
February
2014
February
2016
Back to Work
Enterprise
Allowance
n/a
4,909
10,843
10,212
11,747
TUS
0
173
2,814
7,272
7,922
JobBridge
0
0
3,762
6,541
4,185
Community
Employment
21,239
21,675
21,970
22,729
22,730
Full-time
training
9,167
10,987
9,022
8,579
6,587
Back to
Education
Allowance
7,833
21,091
25,424
24,326
17,794
66,828
80,327
85,481
79,009
Total Activation 52,399
Programmes
 Stepping stones to work are provided through
internships and employment initiatives. Explore the
different types of initiatives that are in place to help you
prepare to take the next step into employment, and help
you update your skills, learn new skills and network in a
workplace environment.
Information
on
Community
Employment
 Community Employment is an employment
programme which helps long-term unemployed
people to re-enter the active workforce by breaking
their experience of unemployment through a return to
work routine. The programme assists them to
enhance and develop both their technical and
personal skills which can then be used in the
workplace.
 The CE programme is Sponsored by groups wishing to
benefit the local community, namely voluntary
organisations and public bodies involved in not-forprofit activities.
 Contact your local Employment Services Office for
further information about Community Employment.
 The community employment scheme is not well
aligned to the labour market
 Community Employment is not an ALMP and
accounts for too high a proportion of the relevant
spend (DPER CRE )
Perceptions
of
Community
Employment
 The Community Employment Scheme should not be
expanded, even if unemployment increases (OECD &
Forfás reviews)
 Dual role:
1.
2.
Specific Skill (Re)Training focused on the LT
Unemployed
The Provision of Local Services (NERI)
 CE has become a multifaceted programme that aims
to satisfy a range of objectives relating to activation of
those participating and delivering much needed
community services.
 The activation element should remain the priority for
the Department in its efforts to further its agenda in
this area. (DSP previous review)
 Recruitment to the scheme should be mediated
and directed, based on referral from DSP
Employment Services only.
DSP’s CE
and
Activation
Recommend
ations
 Participation should be limited to one year for
participants from the unemployed and lone parent
streams, to two years for those from the disability
stream, and to three years for those entering based
on drug dependency.
 Second year only if participating in learning that
leads to a qualification at the end of the 2 year
period.
 Long-term recipients of payments only or low PEX.
 Greater focus on ensuring job-search and
progression planning for participants well in
advance of their scheduled exit from CE.
DSP’s CE
Supporting
Service
Delivery
Recommend
ations
 re-focusing into two strands (an
activation and a service strand) within
the scheme itself for individual projects,
with the service strand existing outside
the Departments suite of activation
schemes, or
 (as suggested by the Department of
Public Expenditure and Reform) a move
towards lead core funding of all
community projects by the public
agency responsible for the relevant kind
of service delivery, with CE supporting
only part – generally a minority – of staff
in any individual organisation / project
The INOU
calls on the
Department
of Social
Protection
 To ensure that participation on employment
programmes is:
 by choice;
 meaningful for participants;
 supported with well-resourced education and
training options;
 followed through with progression into decent
and sustainable employment.
 To support CVS organisations to continue to play their
part in the provision of employment programmes.
 To ensure that employment services play their part in
supporting programme participants to progress into
employment in the wider labour market.
 To actively address barriers to employment including
discrimination. In the Central Statistics Office Equality
Module, August 2015, the second highest rate of
discrimination was reported by people who are
unemployed, 23%.