To ask the Minister for Communities what programmes her Department has put in place, equivalent to the JobCentre Plus Rapid Response Service in England, specifically to assist people resident in Northern Ireland who have been made redundant in the aviation industry during this financial year.

My Department is responsible for providing a redundancy support service to employers and people being made redundant. The Department works with other departments and stakeholders to provide people facing redundancy with information and advice on matters such as CVs, job searching, claiming benefits and training needs. The service offers virtual and face to face support to best meet the needs of both the employer and employees.

A Redundancy Clinic Webcast has been developed to provide employees with information on benefits, supports and services available as they prepare for redundancy including help with costs such as travel to interview expenses and help to search for and find a new job. On-site Redundancy Clinics can be arranged where social distancing requirements can be adhered to and immediate support is also available to impacted staff who make a claim for benefit as they will have a dedicated Work Coach who will provide ongoing tailored support to help them find work or retrain.

My Department is committed to supporting people who have been made redundant in the aviation industry and has delivered a virtual redundancy clinic for Thompson Aero Seating Ltd as well as an on-site redundancy clinic for Collins Aerospace. On-line resources have also been shared with both Easyjet Airline Company Ltd and Jet2.com for their impacted employees.

In addition to Redundancy Services my Department continues to provide Recruitment Services, including JobCentre Online and recruitment events which people facing redundancy can avail of.