Budget Increases secure the future of CE Schemes

In the Budget the Department of Social Protection announced a 66% cut in the training and materials grant for CE schemes from €1,500 to €500 per person on each scheme. This caused problems with many CE schemes saying they could not live on the reduced budget.
These schemes include the National Disabled Angling Park scheme in Co. Wicklow, which came near to closure in January due to lack of funding. Other CE schemes in C. Wicklow include Wicklow Town Community Employment Project.
Having attended a briefing on Community Employment schemes only last week, I welcome the results of the Ministers financial review of these schemes and her decision to increase the budget by €9.5million to €20.5million.
This increase in the training and material CE budget means that the number of places available on CE can remain constant at 23,300 including supervisors.
This decision recognises the important work that is carried by CE schemes across the country and the valuable contribution these schemes make in local communities.
Under these new budgetary measures the maximum materials and training grant available to schemes is €1,000 per place per year. The minimum amount allocated for training out of this is €190 per place per year under the National Training Fund (NTF). The budget allocations to each scheme will be based on the specific level of costs of each scheme.
Each Community Employment scheme has been notified of its revised Material and Training allocation based on the amounts recommended by the Department. There is an appeals process for any scheme who considers that their Materials and Training Grant will not cover the cost of their CE scheme.