Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I was talking to some of my constituents in recent days and they are furious at the rate of pay for CE supervisors, which has not been revised for more than 15 years. The Government and the Dáil are aware of the contribution that these projects make to CE participants and communities throughout Ireland. Generally, a supervisor needs a car to complete his or her work on a daily basis. It is the supervisor's responsibility to ensure the smooth payment of all benefits - fuel and bonus payments - to CE participants weekly. As the Minister is aware, there are more than 19,000 CE participants in the country. The programme offers training and development, which has helped many participants to achieve full-time employment. The management of this also falls into the role of the CE supervisor. Supervisors are funded by a Government grant, which appears to be the only way they can achieve a pay increase. The current Government states that the Government is not the employer. Many supervisors have more than 25 years service, and are deeply hurt that at this stage they do not have Government employment status. This is totally inadequate for this to continue. We have had motion after motion on this issue.

The Minister of State is also a Deputy working on the ground and I am aware that she knows the value of CE supervisors and workers. The same as RSS workers, they need to be looked at in a fair manner.

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