Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Fianna Fáil has brought forward the motion on foot of its acute cognisance of the deep sense of frustration felt by community employment supervisors and assistant supervisors in trying to secure an occupational pension. I thank Deputy O’Dea, Deputy Calleary and all my colleagues for their continuous work on the issue. Last week, community employment supervisors briefed many Deputies in the AV room on their quest for pension rights and there was staggering support from representatives from all parties and none. The issue affects every single community and county in Ireland. I welcome all the supervisors in the Gallery who have travelled from the four corners of the country to be present.

Fianna Fáil Deputies have raised this issue repeatedly with the Government and now call on it to find a resolution and satisfactory pathway to address the issue for the 1,250 supervisors and assistant supervisors on the basis of the Labour Court recommendation of 2008. We also call on the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to meet immediately with the unions representing community supervisors and assistant supervisors with a view to creating a process to bring the issue to finality and making available the financial resources necessary to do so, if even on an incremental basis. We acknowledge that this is a long-running issue, but Fine Gael has been in government since 2011 and failed to deal with it. Community employment schemes are an intrinsic part of communities the length and breadth of this country and supervisors and assistant supervisors are key to their success. Unfortunately, more than 250 persons have retired since the 2008 Labour Court recommendation and supervisors and assistant supervisors are now considering industrial action on foot of the Government's inaction and failure to adequately address the issue.

The contribution of community employment supervisors and assistant supervisors and the schemes they oversee is immense. They develop a pathway to encourage people back to work, which is a fundamental aim in respect of which they have had a fantastic success rate. Their contribution to local communities includes working with sports clubs, church groups, meals on wheels, the elderly, youth education support schemes, Tidy Towns, rural development and heritage schemes. I could go on and on. The motion sets out clearly what is needed. We want to avoid industrial action at all costs. We want a resolution and satisfactory pathway to address the pension issue. We need the Minister to meet the unions as soon as possible. We need him to make available the necessary funds, even if on an incremental basis. It is high time the Government recognised the immense contribution and valuable service provided by community employment supervisors and assistant supervisors and set about resolving the issue once and for all.

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