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

I will have a go at responding to all that in a single minute. We are being very practical about CE. There was a review published at the end of last year but we are not stopping at that. We are trying to increase the flow in, to retain the people we have and to stop the flow out as well. We have taken policy measures in each of those three areas. As for broadening the pool of people, plans are at an advanced stage for a new pilot scheme to extend CE eligibility to people who are qualified adults on a jobseeker claim.

On the pension age question, we are looking at everything we can to broaden the pool and retain people but that is one of the suggestions we are slower to consider, to be honest. The qualifying age for refugees is I think 18 years so there are broader qualifying criteria for them as well. In short, we are looking at everything we can to broaden the pool and get more people in as well as stemming the flow out.

I acknowledge the CE supervisors question. My officials had exploratory meetings with union reps in September. There is an agreement to have another meeting in the near future as well.

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