New Activation Fund

The Enterprise, Trade and Employment section of the Summary of Budget Measures indicates the following:

“Within the overall allocation for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, resources will be directed towards Support Measures for the Food Industry and a range of activation measures including 10/20 week FÁS Training Courses or work placements to provide additional training and upskilling places for the unemployed; and an Activation Fund which will involve an open call for activation proposals targeted at the construction and low skilled sectors.”

More details are available from a press release on the website of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. €1.2 billion will be provided in 2010 to support job retention and tackle unemployment through a range of activation and training measures, employment programmes and the Employment Subsidy Scheme (previously discussed here).

An additional €90 million will be committed in 2010 to increase the number of training and activation places for the unemployed by 16,300 – to a total of 146,300, bringing the number of activation places across Government to over 180,000. A detailed announcement on the nature of places to be made available in 2010 will be made at a later date.

In addition, there will be an additional 500 Community Employment Scheme places in 2010. €20 million of the additional funding will fund the call (mentioned above) for proposals targeting the low skilled and those suffering from unemployment in declining sectors including construction.