Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 10 December 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children

Children and Youth Issues: Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

11:15 am

Photo of Robert TroyRobert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thought we would have an opportunity to ask more questions. I am glad Ms McNally clarified this, because my point on community employment workers is that some of them have a level 6 qualification. I argued it should not have been extended by a year, but the Minister did so. The eligibility criteria of community employment schemes mean the people on them are allowed to work a maximum of three years. They must leave the service after three years and the only way community services can retain them is by employing them directly. Most community services do not have the capacity to employ directly community employment scheme workers. The group with which I work has five community employment workers, and not in a million years would it have the capacity to employ these workers when their eligibility runs out. The new community employment participants coming to replace them will not have a level 6 or level 5 qualification. This is the issue I want to highlight to the Department. This needs further examination, to tease out with the Department of Social Protection how this difficulty will be bridged.

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