Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank both Deputies for raising this issue and giving me an opportunity to address the House on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Regina Doherty. Work schemes such as Tús and community employment schemes are positive initiatives that enable the long-term unemployed to make a contribution to their communities while upskilling themselves for prospective future employment.

The rural social scheme, RSS, provides farmers and fishermen with income support, while they also make a contribution to their community. Tús and the rural social scheme are delivered and managed at local level through the network of local development companies and Udarás na Gaeltachta, known as the implementing bodies, each of which has been awarded a specific quota of Tús and RSS participants based on the ability to source suitable placements. Community employment schemes are typically sponsored by groups, known as sponsors, wishing to benefit the local community. The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection agrees participant numbers annually with each community employment sponsor organisation which, in turn, is responsible for the recruitment of participants and identifying suitable work placements. The current number on the live register is comparable with the figure in May 2008. The average number of participants supported in 2008 was 25,351, composed of 22,785 under the community employment scheme and 2,566 under the rural social scheme, whereas participants did not commence under the Tús initiative until 2011. There are 38,152 places available under these initiatives, of which 26,542 are under the community employment scheme, 3,350 are under the rural social scheme and 8,260 are under Tús.

In the context of economic recovery, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection undertook a review of all work programmes in 2016. Arising from the review, the Government agreed to implement changes to the qualifying conditions for Tús, the rural social scheme and the community employment scheme in order to broaden access for a wider range of people. Since 1 June, the Minister, Deputy Regina Doherty, has also been facilitating persons to take up a placement under the community employment scheme or Tús while also attending their JobPath providers.

The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has examined expenditure on the work schemes to ensure we will continue to deliver best value for the taxpayer and ensure the best use is being made of funding in this area. In that context, a decision was made to reduce the overall number of places under Tús to 6,500. The Department has engaged with the Irish Local Development Network, ILDN, which is the representative body for the Tús implementation bodies, and individually with each such body to seek to implement the reduction in participant numbers from 8,260 to 6,500 before year end.

As the Deputies are aware, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has taken the lead in addressing the entitlement of community employment scheme supervisors to occupational pensions. A community sector high level forum, chaired by the Department, is examining the issue. Other Departments, including the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, are represented on the group, as are the unions and Pobal. The group has held a number of meetings. Community employment scheme supervisors are employees of private companies in the community and voluntary sector which receive public funding. They are not employees of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection or public servants and, as such, were not subject to pay reductions under the provisions of the FEMPI legislation which only applied to public servants. A detailed scoping exercise was carried out with an input from the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service, IGEES, on the potential cost of providing Exchequer support for the establishment of a pension scheme for employees across the community and voluntary sector. The exercise clearly illustrated that this matter presented very significant issues for the Exchequer, with a potential cost to the State of €188 million per annum in respect of funding to enable an employer pension contribution in State funded community and voluntary organisations. That sum excludes provision for immediate ex gratialump sum pension payments as sought, which could, depending on the size of the sector involved, entail a further Exchequer cost of up to €318 million.

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