To ask the Minister for Communities whether his Department has considered alternative schemes to JobStart.

The JobStart scheme is only one of my Department’s employment programmes. It is specifically aimed at young people aged 16 to 24 who are at risk of falling into long-term unemployment, providing job opportunities offering 25 hours of paid employment per week at the appropriate National Minimum Wage.

There are a number of alternative employment programmes and schemes available to help and support young people, long term unemployed and people with a disability and/or health condition into work and to stay in work including, Local Labour Market partnerships, Condition Management Programme, Workable, Access to Work, Work Experience and Adviser Discretion Fund.