Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for attending. I understand that she proposes to establish an interdepartmental group to examine the future of community employment, CE, schemes with a view to ring-fencing social inclusion places and allowing services in communities to be maintained. Fianna Fáil is a strong supporter of, and advocate for, CE schemes. One of the first schemes was started in my constituency. These programmes not only benefit participants but also the community by providing essential services.

One of the stakeholders that relies on these schemes, Graiguecullen Parish CLG, contacted me because it had requested a meeting with the Minister to share its concerns about the scheme as it stands and its ideas for improving the scheme for all concerned. However, it never heard from or had a meeting with the Minister. An approach was adopted in 2017 whereby all CE placements were categorised into two strands: social inclusion - to acknowledge that not all CE places were the same and to provide an opportunity to those who are very distant from the labour market to work and deliver services to local communities - and job activation, which is more directly related to employment opportunities for long-term unemployed. My concern is that since coming into government almost eight years ago, Fine Gael has concentrated more on the job activation element of the CE schemes and has not valued or appreciated the important social inclusion element and the vital role it plays. That is the strand many stakeholders are interested in retaining and expanding.

It is heartening that the Minister intends to engage in a special examination of the social inclusion element and all the benefits it brings. It is time that this was done. Does the Minister intend to meet the stakeholders as part of the examination in order to ensure that any reorganisation of CE can be holistic and sensitive to the needs of all the participants? There are over 20,000 participants in CE schemes but only 30% to 40% of the placements are categorised as social inclusion. We are returning to having lower numbers on the live register and I am concerned that because the number of CE places is linked to those numbers, an unintended consequence could be a reduction in the number of schemes available to people who need them and to communities that need the help. I am aware that the Minister supports this valuable service and the much-needed opportunities provided to allow all individuals who might not work otherwise to contribute to their local towns and villages, especially in rural communities.

Graiguecullen Parish CLG has been in existence since the early 1990s. Fr. Sean Kelly, the parish priest in Graiguecullen, came up with the idea of people working in their community while claiming support from social welfare. A small group of parishioners got together to seek opportunities within the community to create employment by developing local resources such as sporting activities, providing support to the elderly and maintaining schools in the community, thereby giving people a sense of identity and belonging. Following many meetings with the Minister of the day, Graiguecullen had the first pilot programme in Ireland for what was then a FÁS scheme. It continued to grow and there were many benefits from the years of this important scheme being available. In recent years, the age profile of people applying for CE there has increased. Currently, 12 participants are over the age of 55 years and five are over the age of 60. After a year in receipt of qualifying social welfare payments, people aged 55 years and over can remain on CE for a maximum of three consecutive years. After this period, it may be possible to requalify for a CE scheme following a further year in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment.

According to the CE procedure manual, a person aged 55 years and over should be given access to training and development and supported in addressing any barriers to employment. Graiguecullen has identified issues with the system in that, while it offers access to training and development, many participants over 55 years of age do not wish to take up a course or feel that they do not have the capability to return to education. Graiguecullen interprets this as allowing participants over 55 years of age to remain on CE for three years and that while they are given access to training and development, they do not have to participate in it. The Department's interpretation only allows participants one year on the scheme unless they are undertaking the Further Education and Training Awards Council, FETAC, accredited training leading to a major award.

Graiguecullen Parish CLG has asked me to appeal to the Minister to ensure that in her review, participants over the age of 55 will be allowed a maximum of three years without any training and development requirements. We all know that those who re over 55 do not find work easily. They are often early school leavers. According to the CE procedure manual those aged 62 years and over and who are recruited under the service support scheme pilot initiative may remain on CE continuously up to State pension age and be given access to training and development and supported with addressing any barriers to employment. The Graiguecullen scheme is allowed to have three participants aged 62 years and over. It advises me that it believes that any participant aged 60 years and over, not 62 years, should be able to remain on the CE scheme continuously up to the State pension age, with an increase in the number allowed on each scheme. Recently, it had two participants who were over 60 years of age who had to go back into the jobseeker system even though they wanted to continue to work on the scheme. It is hard to find a job at that age.

I could say a great deal more. I realise how important this scheme is to the Minister and I appreciate the work she is doing. Can she examine these cases? In addition to Graiguecullen, I have met many people in Carlow who are on these schemes and who have asked me if they could be left on them. It gives them a sense of community and of pride.