Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)

I thank the Minister of State. It is great to raise this issue. It is great that the Minister of State is visiting these centres because they are amazing. While I understand that boards are responsible for the pay and conditions of each staff member, the funding given centrally to the community training centres is not enough. Although the staff are supposed to be put on the same pay and conditions, or pay rates, as Youthreach co-ordinators, the funding is not there to pay them at that rate. If they are supposed to get paid whatever that rate, increment or point on the scale is, boards will not be able to pay it if the funding does not come centrally. The board can decide to pay a certain rate, ultimately. We have a situation where school completion co-ordinators, for example, have had the exact same problem for the last number of years. They were brought under the ETBI, put at Youthreach scales and are all being managed like this. If we are going to value staff members, we need to do everything we possibly can to bring them under the umbrella. While it is totally fine for there to be local arrangements and for the boards to manage them, there is no reason funding cannot be allocated to the centres which covers all things to do with pay, recruitment, retention and industrial relations. If the central budget does not reach that, they are going to lean into other things they are also struggling with. Every other organisation in the country is struggling with the need for multi-annual funding for all the increased insurance and all the things that go with a project. Someone needs to be championing for these staff members to ensure they are on the correct rate and are given the right amount of money. It is about ensuring community training centres are given the right amount of funding centrally to be able to do that and making sure those staff members are valued, appreciated and paid correctly.

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