Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is quite clear that the State is trying to hide behind the shadow-employer aspect of the role it plays in the WRC process. The State sets the payscales and benchmarks. No CE scheme is allowed to set the pay scale for a supervisor. Any scheme that increases the funding for a supervisor is punished, as the Department of Social Protection reduces the materials grant available for the scheme. Given the job of a supervisor, it is vital that this job and the job of an assistant supervisor is benchmarked in a different way; one they deserve. Anybody around the country who has enjoyed the services of those who work in CE schemes will attest to that.

Supervisors act as counsellors, psychologists, confidantes, trainers, mentors, managers and administrators. The role is a significant one. There was no recognition of it, but during Covid, meals-on-wheels services continued to operate. The drugs project that I am involved in, Liberty Recycling, empties clothing banks around the country. The participants on the CE scheme were in attendance and were looked after all through Covid. There was no additional recognition for that work. As the Minister of State mentioned, every community benefits from the schemes. The only people who do not seem to benefit from a greater recognition of their role in servicing our communities are supervisors and assistant supervisors. We must be real on this and look at benchmarking them against a higher grade than clerical officers within the Civil Service. My suggestion is to benchmark them against training workshop managers or equivalent because, in many cases, supervisors deal with people who have a lot of issues and they must try to help them back to employment or to complete their years of employment while supporting the community.

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