Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 July 2025
409. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection his Department's total expenditure under the Tús community work placement initiative, by county, in each year of the programme’s existence; and the number of participating employees under the initiative, by county, in each year of the programme’s existence, in tabular form. [40648/25]
View answer410. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of participants on the Tús community work placement initiative by county in each year of the programme’s existence; and the total funding allocated to each county in the corresponding period, in tabular form. [40649/25]
View answer411. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection the annual average cost per participant under the Tús community work placement initiative, by county, in each year of the programme’s existence, in tabular form. [40650/25]
View answer412. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of new participants joining the Tús community work placement initiative in each county in each year of the programme’s existence; and the corresponding new funding allocated, in tabular form. [40651/25]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 409, 410, 411 and 412 together.
Tús commenced in July 2011, as a targeted activation measure, and is delivered by 47 local development companies and Údarás na Gaeltachta, known as Implementing Bodies (IBs). IBs are allocated places based on the geographic distribution of people who are unemployed for more than a year. The scheme provides short-term, quality work opportunities in the community and voluntary sectors for those who are unemployed for more than a year.
There are currently 4,655 participants and 232 Supervisors on the Tús scheme. There is a budget in the region of €84m available for Tús in 2025.
The information requested by the Deputy is not held in the department, so it is not possible to provide a detailed response to the questions. Information on the cost per participant, or the number of entries onto the scheme per county is not held. Details on participant numbers and overall expenditure on Tús are published in the annual statistics reports.
The Annual Statistical Report in respect of 2024 is available at, www.gov.ie/en/department-of-social-protection/publications/2024-annual-statistics-report/, as is an archive of reports for each year from 2011, when the Tús scheme commenced.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
