Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach for including this matter on the Commencement list and the Minister of State for taking this debate. I was informed by the Department of Social Protection that neither the Tánaiste nor the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, was available this morning, so I am particularly grateful that the Minister of State, Deputy Deenihan, is present instead.

The matter is self-explanatory. Community support groups are doing invaluable work, but a decision seemingly taken in recent weeks has been causing them some consternation. I have been in contact with groups in my county of Leitrim. I know of an example in County Mayo that my colleague, Deputy Calleary, mentioned in the Lower House, that being, Killala. The Department's decision not to incorporate the increase in the minimum wage, which becomes effective on 1 January, in the annual allocations will have an adverse financial impact on community support groups, which struggle for money normally and rely to a large extent on fund-raising to pursue their valuable activities.

Childhood Days is a special needs group in Drumshanbo. It does extraordinarily good work with severely handicapped children. It provides a wonderful service in our hometown and is open to everyone in the country and the wider catchment area. Like other support groups, it raises funds and receives State allocations. It was the first to raise the red flag with me regarding this issue. When it attended a meeting in Mayo of similar support groups a few weeks ago, word came through from Pobal that the imminent increase in the minimum wage to €9.15 would not be absorbed.

I appreciate that a significant number of people employed in community support services are paid more than the minimum wage, but there are those who are not because of the nature of their work. I was disappointed to learn through Deputy Calleary's raising of the issue in the Lower House that the Department's response was that this had never been the case. I queried that with the support groups, which assured me that increases had been incorporated in their allocations since 2006. Obviously, there is some distance between what the Department and the support groups are saying. I hope that the Minister of State will clarify, as I have raised this issue with the Department in the past 24 hours.

Overall, this is an opportunity to raise an important matter and express our solidarity with the support groups. I hope that the Department will not leave them swinging in the wind and that, if the support groups find themselves in financial difficulty after the implementation of the increase, there will be a positive response from the Department, under whose aegis they fall.