108 Deputy Mary O’Rourke asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills if the institutes of technology are participating in the scheme whereby an unemployed teacher can be taken on by the institute and work for social payments. [47922/10]

The Work Placement Programme provides up to 9 months work experience to unemployed individuals and is open to employers from all sectors of the economy, including the private, public and the community and voluntary sectors. The programme is intended to assist people who are unemployed to develop their skills levels to secure work experience that will assist them in finding employment.

Participation on the programme is voluntary and participants may be entitled to maintain their social welfare entitlements subject to the rules of the Department of Social Protection. In addition, it is a condition of the programme that any placements must not displace an existing member of staff or be used to fill a vacant post. All higher education bodies, including Institutes of Technology have been specifically urged to facilitate the placement of graduates in line with the commitment in the Renewed Programme for Government that provides for the taking on of 1,000 graduates to provide additional capacity and skills across the public service. In addition, the Government have decided that the number of places on the Work Placement Programme will be increased from the current 2,000 to 7,500 in 2011, with 5,000 of the additional placements being offered in the public sector.