Ms Liz Macdonald:

I thank members for the opportunity to address the joint committee today. I wish to outline the rural social scheme and why it is so important to rural Ireland and draw members' attention to the challenges it faces.

The RSS is a unique programme that provides financial support to low-income farmers and fishermen to sustain a reasonable livelihood and in return, participants are engaged for 19.5 hours per week supporting a broad range of services to our rural communities. One of the benefits for participants is that it provides a stable income. With farming being a precarious business, a consistent weekly wage is invaluable to the small farmer. It also promotes better mental health and well-being. The increased social contact promotes a feeling of belonging and of making a difference. Participants share skills and resources. They forge deep friendships and knowledge of their communities. Indeed, this element was key to the RSS’s ability to provide a first responders approach to the problems presented by the Covid-19 crisis. It promotes safer working practices, making farms a safer place to live and work. Participants gain comprehensive health and safety training through programmes such as Safe Pass, manual handling and develop safe practices through ongoing risk assessments and toolbox talks.

There are also benefits to the local communities as the scheme provides a local workforce with a strong working ethos and extensive skill set. Farmers tend to be jacks of all trades and in many cases are masters of many. They possess a unique and integral knowledge of their built, natural and social environments, helping to provide solutions to local challenges.

The work carried out by the RSS is far reaching. It includes Tidy Towns projects, maintenance of community centres, sporting facilities, churches, cemeteries and meals on wheels. The range of projects supported also extends from research, cultural and heritage projects, such as graveyard mapping and historical book writing, to retail support and charity shops. Furthermore, the RSS plays a key role in promoting and preserving biodiversity through cultivating and maintaining parks, walkways and woodlands.

The scheme provides supports to the elderly and vulnerable. Extensive assistance is provided to social service centres and mental and physical health facilities, such as Ability West, the Brothers of Charity and Care and Repair, to name but a few. The RSS facilitates participants to build long-term relationships and trust with these vulnerable people. Supervisors also liaise extensively with district nurses and advanced nurse practitioners to establish the service that best fits. The RSS supports many other rural development programmes and projects. It would be difficult to find a project that has received funding from Government initiatives that has not relied on the RSS to maintain, sustain and thrive long after the initial investment.

I draw the committee's attention to the challenges faced by the RSS now and into the future. For many years, the RSS quota was not sufficient to meet the demand for places. However, due to the age profile of participants and the current policies governing the RSS, for the first time in 18 years we are struggling to fill quotas. Supervisors are already fielding complaints and feeling the strains and stresses of not being able to supply the services on which our communities depend.

The six-year rule was introduced in 2017, when the demand for places was greater than the number of places available. This rule means participants must leave after six years. Therefore, in 2023, many participants will be forced to leave the scheme. This rule fundamentally opposes the very purpose of the RSS and is nonsensical in the current environment, having negative effects on our communities. While rumour has it that the six-year rule is under review, it is causing enormous stress to participants who are effectively on notice that they will lose their jobs next year. We feel strongly this restriction should be abolished immediately.

Means testing is another barrier. Initially, when the RSS was set up, participants' spouses could have an off-farm income of €300 per week without affecting their payment. This has significantly changed, having adverse effects on the uptake of RSS positions. Many participants find, as their families grow, they have reduced means disregards and find themselves no longer eligible to participate. The onerous stringent means test levels need to be reviewed and recalibrated, particularly for long serving participants. Means testing should be carried out, on average, over a five-year period.

Consideration should be given to the precarious nature of farming, which has peaks and troughs whereby a good year can be negated by a bad year. The scheme is also not financially attractive to the 6,000 farmers in receipt of farm assist. We recommend an increase to the top-up payment from €22.50 to €50 per week, remembering that our participants are not receiving benefits but are working for these payments and offer a huge service to the local communities. Consideration could also be given to measures to widen the eligibility criteria, such as allowing the following to participate: farming nieces and nephews; carers under reduced working hours; isolated people with underlying health issues; rural dwellers with transport issues; and rurally isolated single parents.

We know there will be an imminent review of the RSS and we emphasise that RSS supervisors are key stakeholders in the RSS. They possess an in-depth knowledge of the operational and strategic potential of the scheme and are the glue that holds the scheme together. However, currently the supervisors are not included in any of these forums or the forthcoming review to discuss and seek solutions and improvements to the scheme. A representative of the RSS national committee should be included in any proposed reviews. There is also a need for an RSS representative on the Irish Local Development Network RSS-Tús committee.

I draw attention to the long-standing issue of RSS supervisors' employment terms. Mr. Adrian Kane of SIPTU will address the committee further on this matter. However, I would like to highlight that the success of the RSS and the reason it is held in such high regard is largely due to the input and nurturing of the RSS supervisors. It is an ever-changing role with many exceptional varied demands that range from project management, community liaison, social work, health and safety officers, manual handling trainers and many more, while supervisors maintain a positive and supportive manner for participants and communities to accomplish worthwhile projects.

Despite us consistently going the extra mile, for more than 18 years the Department of Social Protection has refused to engage meaningfully to address our punitive working contracts and bring them in line with other comparative jobs. There is an immediate need for the Department to re-establish the tripartite forum, as agreed in 2019, whereby we can collectively address our needs, which include an immediate 15% pay rise and implementation of a pay scale in line with comparative jobs in the same industry; the introduction of an occupational pension scheme; paid maternity leave; and the provision of a travel budget to cover the job requirements.

In last year’s Government publication, Our Rural Future, the policy reflects on the myriad of opportunities to revitalise our towns and villages. I hope members can see the RSS is a vital cog in achieving this vision and that we will receive their active support in order to address the issues I have outlined.