Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Deputy Leader to invite the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, or the Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection, Deputy Joe O'Brien, to the House. I welcome the reforms announced today by the Minister with regard to the community employment, CE, scheme, the Tús scheme and the rural social scheme. Being immersed in our local communities, we all know the work experience given to the men and women in our local communities - there are 27,000 - is absolutely powerful. We see the enhancement of the public realm, and many community and sporting facilities are enriched by participation in these schemes.

The announcement by the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is very important. The six-year term limit is removed, eligibility for Tús is extended and there is flexibility to allow schemes to hire and recruit directly.The application process for the ex-gratiapayment for ex-community employment supervisors is now open. That is tremendous news by the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Heather Humphreys, and her Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien. I ask that both of them are invited here to discuss these schemes that play a huge role in communities.

Yesterday, during the Order of Business, I raised the issue of members of the Defence Forces being asked to be on stand-by. In terms of what has been announced by the Government, the members of the Defence Forces are on stand-by. I challenge Members of this House to listen to the remarks made this morning by Mr. Mark Keane, president of the Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association, PDFORRA. He made a good point and I support his call for clarity.

We should also support and congratulate the hard-working staff in Dublin Airport, Shannon Airport, Ireland West Airport Knock and other airports who do tremendous work in a very stressful and challenging period. It is wrong for Members to come in here and say that we have a part-time Minister for Defence, and they should be corrected, when we actually have the Minister of State, Deputy Jack Chambers, and the Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney, in the Department. They are not part-time Ministers and I made the point that they are not part-time Ministers. In the context of the comments made by Mr. Mark Keane, the Government and the Dublin Airport Authority must clarify the role envisaged for PDFORRA.

Last night, I saw Mr. Dalton Philips on "Prime Time" who made points about terms and conditions. As clarity is required, and just like yesterday when I requested the Minister for Transport to come in here, I now request that the Minister for Defence comes in here to explain and give us clarity on the points in question.