asked the Minister for Labour the number of people employed under the social employment scheme in County Kildare; and the amount of money which is allowed for the purchase of materials for each project.

Statistics on the social employment scheme are currently compiled on the basis of National Manpower Service regions. Details will be available on a county by county basis, as soon as the records of the scheme are fully computerised.

Kildare forms part of the east region of the NMS which also comprises Counties Meath, Wicklow and Dublin. There are 1,825 persons employed on 658 projects in the region at present.

The materials grant for projects under the social employment scheme is dependent on whether the sponsors of the project are in the public or the voluntary sector. In the case of public body sponsors, a total of 53 per cent of the wages grant for the project may be available towards supervision and materials. For voluntary body sponsors the materials grant amounts to a maximum of 15 per cent of the wages grant and a further 13 per cent is available towards supervision.

Did I hear the Minister say that in the case of public bodies 53 per cent of the total is available for materials?

That is correct. In the case of public body sponsors, a total of 53 per cent of the wages grant for the project may be available towards supervision and materials.

Are there cases where projects cannot go ahead because of lack of funds for materials?

In my experience as a public representative I have come across cases where the planning of the work might have been such that work had to come to a stop because of expenditure on materials at too early a date. In some individual cases that might have happened.

Is there any way of getting further funds for materials?

There is the option to apply for an extension to the scheme.

An extension to the time?

An extension to the scheme which, if approved, would mean the allocation of further time and further finance.

Would that have to be an exceptional case? Is it possible that on-going schemes could be forced to discontinue due to lack of funding for materials?

I assume that the approval given for a public body sponsor would have to take into account the planning of the scheme. If the scheme were to come to a halt, the option would be to apply for an extension which would involve further payments for materials and wages.

Surely the principle of the scheme is to give employment? We are drifting into the position where people might try to use any device under the scheme to get finance for materials and not for employment, which is the purpose of the scheme.

The scheme has been a phenomenal success in that over 10,000 people are now employed. The conditions are laid down. A total of 53 per cent is available for public bodies and 15 per cent for voluntary bodies.