Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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95. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the current strategy for community employment, the number of sponsor groups, participants and supervisors and whether any changes are planned to the scheme this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26196/25]

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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On behalf of my colleague Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh, I ask the Minister for Social Protection the current strategy for community employment, the number of sponsor groups, participants and supervisors, and whether any changes to the scheme are planned this year. Will he make a statement on the matter? This relates to community employment in the round, including CE schemes, Tús, RSS and others.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Tuigim cé chomh tábhachtach atá na scéimeanna seo. Tá siad ag déanamh an-jab i ngach cuid den tír. Tosóimid le CE agus beimid in ann RSS agus Tús a phlé ar ball. Community employment schemes make an extraordinary contribution right around the country. I have engaged with many of the schemes over recent months since my appointment as Minister. There are currently 19,693 participants and 1,223 supervisors on 810 CE schemes across the country. Government investment in CE will amount to some €370 million in 2025. This is an investment in communities and in people right across our island.

The objective of CE is to enhance the employability of disadvantaged and long-term unemployed people by providing valuable work experience and training opportunities within their local communities as a stepping stone to employment in the open labour market. CE also supports important and essential local community services.

A number of changes have been made to support CE sponsors in the recruitment of participants. Provision has been made to allow participants who reach 60 years of age to remain on a CE scheme until they reach the State pension age. Flexibility has been granted to sponsors to retain existing participants for extended periods in cases where a replacement cannot be recruited immediately. There have been changes to the eligibility criteria to extend eligibility to the adult dependants of those in receipt of jobseeker's allowance and there has been a pilot scheme to extend eligibility to over-50s who are in receipt of credits or a combination of credits and jobseeker's benefit. These changes have resulted in an increase of approximately 500 in the number of participants in CE in the past 12 months.

I assure Deputies McGuinness and Ó Snodaigh that I am keeping the eligibility criteria, durations and referral process under active review. Personally, I no longer see CE as a labour market intervention. It is much broader and wider than that and has a much bigger impact. I am asking my Department to look at it in a much broader context than the labour market perspective that has traditionally been taken.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome that and gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as an bhfreagra cuimsitheach sin. Is cinnte go bhfuil an-éileamh ar an scéim seo i measc na ngrúpaí pobail. Níl sé díreach mar gheall ar dhaoine a chur ar ais ag obair nó traenáil chuí a thabhairt dóibh. Tá sé chun tacú leis na pobail ina bhfuil siad ag maireachtáil agus ina gcónaí.

Regarding the CE and Tús schemes, part of the issue is that there does not seem to be a great deal of joined-up thinking between the two. There is no easy avenue to go from one to the other. While somebody who is on a Tús scheme for 12 months can join a CE scheme, the reverse is not true. There are disparities between the training available to people on a Tús scheme and that available to people on a CE scheme. That needs to be brought into line. There needs to be a broader approach to training for those on Tús schemes. We must also be clear that Tús schemes are not always suitable for community groups because the right supports are not available for participants and community groups when people with particular needs or difficulties are being taken on. It may be a little difficult for a community group to take that on.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as sin. Tá sé seo tábhachtach. The schemes have a lot in common; there are a lot of differences, though. All the schemes - CE, Tús and RSS - were set up with different priorities and different cohorts in mind, initially achieving different things but as they have evolved doing many of the same things. I am definitely looking at all the schemes. They play a vital role. As I look around, there is not a Deputy in the House who does not understand that role. It is a vital role for communities but especially for the participants. I acknowledge in particular the work of supervisors in all three cohorts: CE, RSS and Tús. I have been delighted to be able to make some changes as regards their positions. As I said, their work is so important, not just for the communities that benefit but also for those on the schemes. I want to make sure they are as relevant and as up to date as they were when they were started.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as sin. I welcome his commitment to keep these under review and to look at them in the round because there is a lot of crossover.

With regard to the RSS, I would like to know the Minister's opinions on reform of that and the pilot scheme and moving it to the rural dwellers scheme or bringing more of that in. At present, as the Minister knows, you need either a fishing licence or a herd number to qualify for that scheme. It would be suitable to many more people living in rural Ireland who could avail of it and for whom a placement through that scheme would be very valuable and very important to them and could lead to really positive change in their lives. I would like to hear a little more about that from the Minister, if he does not mind.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Without being cheeky enough to suggest a work programme for the committee, as regards the interaction of CE, RSS and Tús, I would love to engage with Members on that or to hear what they could come up with on it. Deputy McGuinness has raised an important point that the schemes have evolved over the years. It would be good to maybe stand back and look at them to see if they are delivering for the participants. We know they are delivering for communities, but the profile and the needs of participants have changed, and I want to make sure they are delivering. I will leave that to Deputy O'Reilly and Deputy Wall. Maybe it is something to work on.

As regards the RSS, I have examined fully the RSS review group that was commissioned by the former Minister of State, Joe O'Brien, and I am finalising some work within the Department on that. I am absolutely with the Deputy in terms of the rural dwellers pilot. It would be good to get that up and running. It may feed into any work I have just suggested about the three schemes and their interaction.