Community Employment scheme

What is the CE scheme?

The Community Employment (CE) programme (more commonly known as the ‘CE Scheme’) is designed to help people who are long-term unemployed (or otherwise disadvantaged) to get back to work by offering part-time and temporary placements in jobs based within local communities.

If you are a participant in the CE scheme, you can take up other part-time work during your placement. After the placement, you are encouraged to look for permanent jobs elsewhere, based on the experience and new skills you have gained while on a Community Employment scheme.

You can find out more about CE and the experience of CE participants in the DSP video on Community Employment.

If you are a CE supervisor or a CE assistant supervisor, you can get a once-off CE Ex-Gratia Payment after you reach retirement age. You can find out more on gov.ie.

The Department of Social Protection (DSP) gives allowances and funding to assist with the Community Employment scheme, for example, your wages, supervisor grants, materials grants and specific skills training grants. Community Employment sponsors are the voluntary organisations or public bodies that manage CE schemes at a local level. 

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How to qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit

 

To qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit (JB) you must:

• Be under pension age

• Be unemployed (you must be fully unemployed or unemployed for at least 4 days out of 7)

• Have had a substantial loss of employment and as a result be unemployed for at least 4 days out of 7

• Be capable of work

• Be available for and genuinely seeking work

• Have enough social insurance (PRSI) contributions

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Jobseeker's Benefit and work

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To get Jobseeker's Benefit, you must be unemployed, or have lost at least one day's employment and as a result be unemployed for at least 4 days out of 7 days. You may continue to get Jobseeker's Benefit if you can only find part-time or casual work.

If you’re getting Jobseeker's Benefit and you work part-time during the week, your payment is based on a 5-day payment week. This means that for each day you work, 1/5th of the normal rate of Jobseeker's Benefit is deducted. If you work part-time for 2 days, you will get 3/5ths of the normal Jobseeker's Benefit for that week, and if you work part-time for 3 days, you will get 2/5ths of the normal rate of Jobseeker’s Benefit for the week. You must still be unemployed for at least 4 days out of 7 to claim Jobseeker's Benefit.

There is an exemption from some of the rules for retained firefighters. More information is available about work and Jobseeker’s Benefit.

If you are getting JB, you can use the online Benefit of Work Ready Reckoner from the DSP. It helps you figure out how much money you would get if you took up full-time work, including any Working Family Payment, and compares it to what you currently get from Jobseeker's Benefit, including Rent Supplement. For more details go to:

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Contact: CE Supervisor Burair Abbass on 0877658417

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ttps://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social-welfare/social-welfare-payments/unemployed-people/jobseekers-benefit/