Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

We will be reviewing the rural social scheme, RSS, this year and the six-year rule will be in the mix.

Regarding Tús, my understanding is that the majority of places have been filled and it has been going well. Compared with community employment, CE, schemes, the rate at which places are being filled has been quicker.

On Monday, I met RSS participants in Meath - perhaps it was some of the same people - who spoke highly of the scheme. One lady in particular who used to be an RSS participant is now managing the Slane community and tourism hub and spoke highly of the scheme. The RSS co-ordinator in the area spoke about its importance. Meath does not have the most participants. As the Deputy knows, that falls to the west, but those I met made points about the RSS and were aware of the review. I encouraged them to feed into the process. If the Deputy could encourage other RSS participants and supervisors whom she is in touch with to do likewise, I would appreciate it.

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