Community employment statistics at a glance
Community Employment is one of the clearest examples of a labor market program that mixes paid work, local service, and structured training. The numbers below show how the scheme operates in practice, how it has evolved in recent years, and where the strongest documented outcomes appear.
Fast facts
- Community Employment is aimed at people who are long-term unemployed or otherwise disadvantaged and places them in part-time, temporary local jobs (Department of Social Protection CE programme page).
- Standard placements normally last 12 months, although some can be extended by up to 2 years to help participants complete major awards (Department of Social Protection CE programme page).
- The general qualifying age is 21 years, and eligibility usually requires receipt of a qualifying payment for at least 12 months (Department of Social Protection CE programme page).
- The minimum weekly CE payment is EUR 286.50 based on 19.5 hours worked (Department of Social Protection CE programme page).
- CE jobs are advertised on JobsIreland.ie and local media (Department of Social Protection CE programme page).
Table of contents
- How the scheme is structured
- What the budget and participation figures show
- The 2024 to 2026 spending picture
- What the OECD findings say about outcomes
- How CE compares with other activation supports
- What the historical data suggests
How the scheme is structured
The Community Employment programme is built around a straightforward model: part-time, temporary jobs in local communities for people who need a supported return to work (Department of Social Protection CE programme page).
That structure matters because the scheme is not just a wage subsidy. It combines paid work with training, placement duration rules, and eligibility screening. The Department of Social Protection says CE training is delivered within a Quality Assurance framework linked to QQI courses and the National Framework of Qualifications (Department of Social Protection CE programme page). Training expenditure is funded through the National Training Fund (Department of Social Protection CE programme page).
The payment design is also unusually specific. The minimum weekly CE payment is EUR 286.50 based on 19.5 hours worked (Department of Social Protection CE programme page). Where the participant’s prior social welfare payment was more than EUR 254 per week, the CE payment is that amount plus EUR 32.50 (Department of Social Protection CE programme page). If the prior payment was EUR 254 or less, the CE payment is EUR 286.50 per week (Department of Social Protection CE programme page).
Eligibility and access
The general qualifying age for CE is 21 years (Department of Social Protection CE programme page). Eligibility generally requires receipt of a qualifying payment for at least 12 months (Department of Social Protection CE programme page). The scheme also broadened access through pilots: eligibility for qualified adults was opened from 1 January 2023, and a new pilot extending eligibility to certain people over 50 started on 13 May 2024 (Department of Social Protection CE programme page).
That matters for interpreting the age mix in the outcomes data. The scheme is not a single uniform intervention; it serves different participant groups with different employment histories, benefit statuses, and likely returns.
Where the jobs are
CE projects can cover community spaces, environmental maintenance, early years, after-school supports, heritage, arts, culture, tourism, sport, recycling, repairs, visitation, friendly call, and befriending work (Department of Social Protection CE programme page). In other words, it is not narrowly tied to one sector. It is a broad local-services programme with a community delivery model.
Jobs are advertised on JobsIreland.ie and local media (Department of Social Protection CE programme page), which reinforces how locally embedded the scheme is.
What the budget and participation figures show
The participation figures make the programme scale visible. The Department announced that there were currently 19,274 CE participants in 2024 when it discussed scheme funding, with an annual CE budget of over EUR 350 million and 813 CE schemes nationwide (Department of Social Protection press release, 7 Nov 2024).
A later Department of Social Protection press release for 2026 reported 19,659 CE participants and an annual budget of over EUR 415 million (Department of Social Protection press release, 2026). That is not a small adjustment. It suggests continued scale, not a marginal or shrinking programme.
Key scheme counts and funding
| Measure | Figure | Source label |
|---|---|---|
| CE participants in 2024 | 19,274 | Department of Social Protection press release, 7 Nov 2024 |
| Annual CE budget in 2024 | over EUR 350 million | Department of Social Protection press release, 7 Nov 2024 |
| CE schemes nationwide | 813 | Department of Social Protection press release, 7 Nov 2024 |
| CE participants in 2026 | 19,659 | Department of Social Protection press release, 2026 |
| Annual CE budget in 2026 | over EUR 415 million | Department of Social Protection press release, 2026 |
The table shows a consistent pattern: participant numbers stay around the 19,000 to 20,000 range, while the budget rises from over EUR 350 million in 2024 to over EUR 415 million in 2026 (Department of Social Protection press release, 7 Nov 2024; Department of Social Protection press release, 2026).
That does not automatically mean cost per participant has increased in a simple linear way, because the statistics provided do not give a single comparable unit cost for those specific years. But it does show that the programme remained heavily financed and structurally significant.
A wider labour-market context
The OECD impact evaluation report places Ireland’s active labour market spending at 0.21% of GDP in 2021, or 0.37% of modified GNI in 2021 (OECD Impact Evaluation report). The same report says about half of Ireland’s active labour market policy spending was focused on direct job creation, and that Ireland ranked seventh among OECD countries for ALMP spending in that report (OECD Impact Evaluation report).
That framing matters because CE sits within a broader policy mix rather than standing alone. It is one of the strongest examples of direct job creation in the Irish policy landscape (OECD Impact Evaluation report).
The 2024 to 2026 spending picture
The Appropriation Account 2024 gives a more detailed picture of spending and outturns. Community Employment spending in the 2024 scheme expenditure breakdown was EUR 369 million, compared with EUR 341 million in 2023 (Appropriation Account 2024). The total working-age employment supports outturn was EUR 686 million in 2024 versus EUR 649 million in 2023 (Appropriation Account 2024).
That places CE inside a wider block of activation spending that also includes Tús, the Rural Social Scheme, Job Initiative, and Contracted Public Employment Service schemes.
Scheme expenditure comparison
| Scheme or measure | 2023 | 2024 | Source label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community Employment | EUR 341 million | EUR 369 million | Appropriation Account 2024 |
| Tús | EUR 83 million | EUR 84 million | Appropriation Account 2024 |
| Rural Social Scheme | EUR 50 million | EUR 51 million | Appropriation Account 2024 |
| Job Initiative | EUR 11 million | EUR 10 million | Appropriation Account 2024 |
| Contracted Public Employment Service schemes | EUR 59 million | EUR 71 million | Appropriation Account 2024 |
| Total working-age employment supports | EUR 649 million | EUR 686 million | Appropriation Account 2024 |
The broad picture is that CE remains the largest single line in that breakdown. The jump from EUR 341 million to EUR 369 million is larger than the year-on-year movements for Tús, Rural Social Scheme, and Job Initiative in the same account (Appropriation Account 2024).
Budget and accounting detail
The Appropriation Account 2024 says the CE programme allocation in Vote 37 was EUR 369.219 million outturn (Appropriation Account 2024). The estimate provision after supplementary funding was EUR 367.390 million, the original estimate was EUR 350.575 million, and the supplementary estimate was EUR 16.815 million (Appropriation Account 2024).
Those figures show how the 2024 budget evolved through the year. The outturn ended up slightly above the supplemented estimate and well above the original estimate (Appropriation Account 2024).
There are also balance-sheet style details that show the scheme’s administrative scale. CE scheme prepayments at 31 December 2024 were EUR 105.487 million, while CE-related accrued expenses were EUR 53.431 million at 31 December 2024 and EUR 51.164 million at 31 December 2023 (Appropriation Account 2024). The Department also recorded EUR 7.062 million in advances to Pobal at 31 December 2024 (Appropriation Account 2024).
The ex-gratia payments line is another useful marker. Ex-gratia payments to CE supervisors totalled EUR 682,000 in 2024, covering 45 ex-CE supervisors and CE assistant supervisors (Appropriation Account 2024). That was down from EUR 1.4 million in 2023, a drop of EUR 718,000 (Appropriation Account 2024).
What the OECD findings say about outcomes
The OECD material in the dataset is the strongest source for measured longer-term outcomes. It is also the best way to interpret what CE does beyond simply providing temporary work.
Employment and earnings effects
The OECD CE chapter reports that CE’s average estimated effect on employment probability over horizons longer than 2 years was 8 percentage points (OECD CE chapter). In the first 2 years after entry, employment effects ranged from -2 to -6 percentage points in the meta-analysis comparison (OECD CE chapter). In the 1-2 year horizon subset, the median estimate was 3.0 percentage points versus -2.5 percentage points when all unemployed groups were included (OECD CE chapter).
That sequence suggests a common activation pattern: short-term disruption or substitution effects can appear first, while longer-run employment probability improves later (OECD CE chapter).
The earnings effects are even more differentiated by group. Prime-aged participants could expect EUR 2,300 more annual earnings four years after CE and EUR 3,000 after seven years, versus EUR 800 and EUR 900 for 50+ participants (OECD CE chapter). EU migrants earned around EUR 3,600 more per year five years after CE, compared with a cross-group average effect of EUR 1,250 and EUR 2,300 for women (OECD CE chapter).
The OECD chapter also says CE participants in activation placements gained about EUR 2,000 in annual earnings 5 years after starting CE, while the effect for social inclusion participants was close to 0 (OECD CE chapter). That is a major difference. It shows that participant type shapes the return profile of the programme.
Benefit receipt and weeks worked
The benefits side is equally informative. CE participation reduced the probability of claiming Disability Allowance by 10 percentage points for former participants aged 50+ five years later, and that reduction was still 8 percentage points after 8 years (OECD CE chapter). The initial negative impact on disability benefit receipt was already visible 1 year after starting CE (OECD CE chapter).
Other post-entry effects were smaller but still measurable. Extra annual weeks of Jobseeker’s Benefit receipt peaked at just over 2 weeks in years 3 and 4 after CE (OECD CE chapter). The small positive effect on Back to Education Allowance receipt became positive from year 2 after starting CE, and the strongest effect around years 3 and 4 was about 0.1 weeks per year (OECD CE chapter). Under-30 CE participants claimed Back to Education Allowance 0.4 weeks more on average four years after starting CE (OECD CE chapter).
Annual weeks worked were expected to be 6 weeks higher for under-30 and 30-50 participants 4-5 years after CE, while the effect was close to zero for 50+ participants (OECD CE chapter).
What to read from those numbers
The most defensible reading is that CE does not behave like a one-size-fits-all programme. The same scheme can produce:
- stronger employment effects for some age groups and participant types,
- larger earnings gains for prime-aged participants and EU migrants,
- meaningful disability-benefit reductions for older former participants,
- and near-zero labour-market gains for some social inclusion participants (OECD CE chapter).
Those differences are not a footnote. They are the main story in the OECD evidence.
How CE compares with other activation supports
CE is best understood alongside other Irish activation programmes. The Department said CE and Tús together had close to 23,000 people on schemes each year and over EUR 440 million allocated in 2024 (Department of Social Protection press release, 13 Mar 2024). CE and Tús evaluation work was part of Commitment 78 of Pathways to Work 2021-2025 (Department of Social Protection press release, 13 Mar 2024).
The 2024 account also helps compare scale across programmes. Tús spending was EUR 84 million in 2024 versus EUR 83 million in 2023; Rural Social Scheme spending was EUR 51 million versus EUR 50 million; Job Initiative was EUR 10 million versus EUR 11 million; and Contracted Public Employment Service schemes were EUR 71 million versus EUR 59 million (Appropriation Account 2024).
Within that mix, CE remains the central direct-job-creation programme. The OECD says about half of Ireland’s ALMP spending was focused on direct job creation (OECD Impact Evaluation report), which is consistent with CE’s scale in the national budget breakdown.
What the historical data suggests
The longer time series show that CE has remained substantial for years, not just in the latest accounting cycle.
Community Employment had an annual capacity of 22,300 persons in 2013, and the 2013 Budget added funding for an additional 2,000 CE places (OECD Employment and Skills Strategies in Ireland 2014). Tús offered 5,000 places in 2013 and the Rural Social Scheme had 2,750 places in 2013 (OECD Employment and Skills Strategies in Ireland 2014).
In the same OECD review, CE’s budget was EUR 349 million in 2011 and CE cost EUR 14,934 per participant in 2011 (OECD Employment and Skills Strategies in Ireland 2014). Almost 60% of people starting CE in 2011 had qualifications below the Leaving Certificate (OECD Employment and Skills Strategies in Ireland 2014).
Regional and labour-market context
The OECD review also included regional distribution data. The West had 62 CE places per 1,000 unemployed people, while the North East and Midlands had about 40 CE places per 1,000 unemployed people (OECD Employment and Skills Strategies in Ireland 2014).
That suggests CE was not only large in aggregate, but also unevenly distributed relative to unemployment across regions.
The 2009 OECD review gives still earlier context. It said the CE scheme had over 20,000 participants in 2007, representing more than 1% of the labour force (OECD Economic Surveys: Ireland 2009). It also said CE provided support for up to 2 years of employment in the non-market sector, and that over one-third of FÁS’ budget of around EUR 1 billion went to CE (OECD Economic Surveys: Ireland 2009).
The same review noted that the employer payroll tax contribution to FÁS was 0.7%, that Ireland’s employment had fallen by over 7% by 2009 compared with the peak, that unemployment rose from 4.5% in 2007 to close to 12% in 2009, and that the claimant count had risen by around 255,000 to about 428,800 by August 2009 (OECD Economic Surveys: Ireland 2009). It also said the 2009 activation package included up to EUR 370 million in new measures (OECD Economic Surveys: Ireland 2009).
Seen together, those older figures show CE as part of a long-running activation response to unemployment shocks and structural labour-market disadvantage, not as a short-lived policy experiment.
The main pattern across the data
Across the years, the scheme stays consistent in three ways:
- it remains large enough to matter nationally,
- it is shaped by local delivery and targeted eligibility rules,
- and its outcomes differ sharply by participant group and time horizon (Department of Social Protection CE programme page; OECD CE chapter).
That is the cleanest statistical summary of CE. The programme is not simply a payment line or a temporary placement pool. It is a sizeable, long-running activation system with measurable but uneven effects, and the statistics show that scale and selectivity are both central to how it works.