A proposed increase in community employment scheme places for next year is set to be opposed strongly by the Department of Finance.
The Minister responsible for the scheme, Mr Frank Fahey, wants to increase the participants from 20,000 to 25,000, The Irish Times has learned.
Mr Fahey also wants to revamp the scheme to take account of its role in the provision of community services.
The scheme was originally designed to assist long-term unemployed people get back into mainstream jobs. Over time, however, communities came to depend on services which the community employment schemes provided.
A high-level group of civil servants has recommended that the number of places on the scheme be maintained next year at 20,000. However, it suggested that up to 5,000 places on two other social employment programmes could be axed to pay for an enhanced community employment scheme.
These are the job initiative scheme (which currently employs 2,200 formerly long-term unemployed people) and the social economy programme (which funds 2,300 jobs in disadvantaged areas).
Mr Fahey has proposed instead that the job initiative scheme is phased out gradually and absorbed into an expanded community employment scheme.
It is understood he favours a review of the social economy programme before decisions are taken. The proposed new community employment scheme would have a greater emphasis on training and job preparation for participants capable of moving on to mainstream jobs.
There would also be places for people who, either for individual reasons or because of a lack of local job opportunities, have lower prospects of getting full-time jobs.
He is also proposing that the scheme be used to provide community services on a more structured basis than at present.
The proposals are to be discussed by the cabinet committee on social inclusion, which meets this week. A final decision is unlikely to be taken until later, however.
As Minister of State for Labour Affairs, Mr Fahey is directly responsible for the scheme. His proposals, however, are expected to face stiff resistance from the Department of Finance, which is unlikely to countenance a reversal of the recent cutbacks in the scheme, given the current state of public finances.
A Government source yesterday predicted "a vigorous debate" on the issue in the coming weeks, when the spending Estimates for next year will be finalised.
Successive cutbacks to the scheme, which has been halved since 1998 when it employed 40,000, have angered local communities. Not only has it been a valuable source of job-creation, they argue, it also provides vital services in areas including childcare, health, the arts and social services.
