Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome and fully support the motion. Since the commencement of the community employment programme in 1994, the scheme has provided fruitful employment and skills acquisition to tens of thousands of long-term unemployed across this State, the vast majority of whom have progressed to both mainstream and self-employment. The social benefit of the work undertaken has been reaped by thousands of communities across the State. The legal and fiscal relationship between CE supervisors and the State is no different from that of many public sector workers contracted by intermediary bodies. Failure to fund pensions for CE supervisors and assistant supervisors renders the State complicit in an evasion of its fiscal obligations and in the deprivation of employment rights to a de factopublic service sector. The work of many CE scheme supervisors and assistant supervisors has clearly gone unappreciated and undervalued by this Government. These supervisors deserve respect and fair play. That is all they are asking for. They have waited too long for the pension entitlements that are their due. It is high time the Government get up off its feet and delivered on these entitlements.

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