Dáil debates

Wednesday, 8 May 2019

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions

 

2:50 pm

Photo of Michael HartyMichael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the issue of community employment schemes. These schemes may not be as controversial as the introduction of broadband to rural Ireland, but they are equally important to the communities they serve. As we approach full employment, I ask the Government and the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to change the eligibility criteria for entry to community employment schemes. I ask that the rules be relaxed in respect of the duration for which people can remain on these schemes, with particular regard to people aged over 55, participants with social and other limitations and participants who lack transport and other supports. I ask the Government to introduce some flexibility regarding the maximum amount of time for which participants can remain on these schemes. This would enable schemes to maintain their staffing levels, as many are now having difficulty doing so. It would allow them to continue with the excellent work they do for their local communities and to play an important part in social inclusion, particularly in rural Ireland.

The Minister has set up an interdepartmental group to look at this issue, which was to report at the end of March. Did this group produce such a report and what were its recommendations, particularly with respect to altering the criteria for entry and length of stay on these schemes?

Is the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection the best Department to be involved in the social inclusion arm of this scheme? As we approach full employment, the emphasis should be on community enhancement and social protection. The schemes were introduced at a time when there were high levels of unemployment but that is no longer the case, which creates great difficulties for these schemes in recruiting and maintaining people on the schemes. This is detrimental to the communities they serve. The Minister is aware of the social inclusion value of these schemes. The rules were set out at a different time and in a different era and they need to be changed.

The schemes are critically important for communities because they have taken on the work county councils formerly carried out in maintaining the infrastructure of villages and towns, providing many services formerly provided by the county council, looking after community projects and sheltered housing schemes, and looking after the landscape and streetscape of these towns and villages through their participation in Tidy Towns and other community projects.

Even with almost full employment, there will always be a small cohort of people who find the norms of conventional jobs challenging. A placement on a community employment scheme gives these people a great sense of purpose, allows them to contribute to their communities, gives them sheltered and protected work and allows them to achieve their full potential.

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