It is a Government initiative to take long term unemployed individuals and give them meaningful jobs working within local communities throughout Co. Wexford and N ationally. It does this by using Local Development Companies such as Wexford Local Development (WLD) to match up available placements within community and voluntary groups like SWWCDG with eligible individuals identified by the Department of Social Protection.

There are two main ways that Tús helps our community. First, it provides SWWCDG with additional workers and secondly, it gives an unemployed individual regular meaningful work to help them become more attractive to future employers. It provides a work placement where they can learn new skills, build their self-confidence and help their local community. Therefore not only does SWWCDG benefit, so does someone who has been unemployed for a while. They get to work 19.5 hours per week, every week. They get a job. They get paid holidays. They get to tell the next interview panel that they are currently working. They get a sense of self-worth from doing something useful. They get a little extra cash in their pocket and they get to help out in their local community.

If you are currently unemployed and are wondering how to get onto the scheme, here is how it works. The Department of Social Protection selects names from the live register and makes contact with these individual to ask them if they are interested in joining. Once they have confirmation, the Department then passes these names to WLD and they send out invitations to come and see them. Interviewees are then matched with the needs of organisations such as SWWCDG to provide a job match fit. Currently SWWCDG has five places under the TUS programme and participants are working in our Community Café, doing valuable maintenance and repair work and providing secretarial support to our Education and Development Co-ordinator.

NOTE: It is only the Department of Social Protection who picks the names from the live register, so wait for them to contact you. WLD cannot consider you for the scheme until they give them your name.