Ms Liz Macdonald:

Yes, the Deputy is ahead of me. This is, nonetheless, something that needs to be looked at because those people need to be brought out and socialised also.

Generally, a widening of the scheme would be desirable. My belief is that anybody who has the capacity to work who lives in rural Ireland but cannot move, be that for transport reasons or otherwise, should be allowed to participate in the scheme. The minimum payment they would be getting is €22.50 and the work is very worthwhile.

I would like to mention the supervisors’ salaries, and so forth. This has been on the agenda for a long time. There was nothing for ten years. There was a minimum input then in 2017. Now, where we have such economic pressures, this cannot go on forever. We have a situation where supervisors rely on their cars to do their work. The salaries they receive do not even allow them to buy a decent car or even to fix the car, sometimes, if something happens. There needs to be an immediate input to resolve this situation.