Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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81. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will consider further supporting the seniors community alert programme through the community employment scheme, Tús, and the rural social scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24639/23]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I recently had the privilege of engaging with dedicated members of the seniors alert scheme who emphasised the importance of further enhancing the effectiveness of the scheme. Will the Minister consider allocating additional supports to the scheme by means of the community employment, CE, scheme or the rural social scheme, RSS?

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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The seniors alert scheme provides funding for a free personal monitored alarm for people aged 65 or older and of limited means. The scheme is intended to support older people to live securely and independently in their homes. It is funded by the Department of Rural and Community Development and administered by Pobal, with the support of local community and voluntary groups.

The Deputy will be aware of the good work undertaken on the employment support schemes operated by the Department of Social Protection. These schemes are targeted at long-term unemployed and other vulnerable groups. There are currently more than 18,500 participants on community employment, 4,400 participants on Tús and slightly more than 2,800 participants on the RSS. Government investment in the schemes will amount to more than €500 million in 2023. These work schemes are typically sponsored by voluntary and community organisations wishing to benefit the local community. As the employers, these sponsoring organisations contract with the Department of Social Protection annually to provide participants with good-quality work experience. Eligible work placements under the schemes are identified by the scheme sponsors in response to an identified community need and provide development opportunities for participants. The projects and work undertaken must not displace or replace existing jobs.

These scheme sponsor groups provide valuable and dedicated services in communities throughout the country. Employment support scheme employees may support the community alert programme where it is identified as a community need by their local sponsor or partnership company and where the senior alert scheme is also operated by a community or voluntary group.

I am interested to hear the Deputy's suggestions on further enhancements to the scheme. It is important that we get word out about the scheme and I look forward to his input.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. I appreciate the points he raised but it is important to acknowledge that participants on the CE, Tús and RSS schemes have diverse responsibilities within their communities. The Minister of State referred to ownership within the local stakeholders or sponsors. By increasing awareness of the seniors alert scheme and promoting better integration within the schemes to which reference was made, we can strengthen the capacity of local organisations to reach a larger number of older and vulnerable individuals. That, in turn, would significantly increase the overall impact of the seniors alert scheme in communities. We are all in agreement that it is a crucial initiative for older people living in rural areas. In areas on the west coast, such as Achill Island or Connemara, there is an opportunity to better integrate the CE, Tús and RSS schemes, which provide valuable services within their communities, with the seniors alert scheme.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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We have a network of community and voluntary organisations throughout the country that should cover every geographic area. There are responsible community organisations in every area. If the Deputy believes a particular area is not properly covered, we would like to know about it. The organisations are effective in getting the word out. They use CE, Tús or RSS participants in the process of getting the word out and the equipment in and connecting it and so on. Some of them also use full-time paid employees to do the process. There is a healthy flow of new joiners, with between 15,000 and 19,000 new people joining the seniors alert scheme every year. If there are particular examples, we would be eager to know about them because it is an effective and important scheme.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I again thank the Minister of State for his response. Personal interaction with older or vulnerable people who do not get as many visits as those who live in more clustered communities is of importance in this regard. The Minister of State referred to getting the word out but it is important to ensure people are visited regularly, similar to the service performed by Meals on Wheels and so on. That was very prominent in the early stages of the Covid pandemic, when people were being checked upon regularly. We can enhance the scheme and its effectiveness through integration and proper consultation with the sponsors and stakeholders. I would appreciate that being considered in any further revisions within the schemes.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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As the Deputy was speaking, two things occurred to me that we could do in terms of joined-up thinking. The social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, which falls under the Department of Rural and Community Development, funds several friendly call service programmes nationally which contact older, often isolated, people by telephone.

It grew up over Covid. Maybe we can ask those services to spread the word about the senior alert scheme. With regard to joining up two Departments as well, I can talk to the sponsors of the community employment, TÚS and the rural social schemes to make sure they know about the senior alert scheme too. They have a lot of people on the ground who go into communities and situations. It is an easy enough job to get that dialogue happening between the two Departments, as I oversee both schemes as well. That could be a course of action I can take.