Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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203. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will confirm that her Department accepts no liability regarding the Labour Court recommendations, LCR19293, regarding the provisions of pension benefits of supervisors and assistant supervisors in contract with her Department for the operation of community employment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21151/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Labour Court recommended in July 2008 that an agreed pension scheme should be introduced for community employment (CE) scheme supervisors and assistant supervisors, and that such a scheme should be adequately funded by FÁS. Notwithstanding the positions of the Department in rejecting that liability for these costs falls to be met from public funds, this matter has been the subject of discussions between the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, my Department, and the unions representing CE supervisors. In the event that funding was required from FÁS, the implementation of the claim is not considered sustainable in light of the current and ongoing fiscal environment and the requirement to contain and reduce public expenditure. The costs of the introduction of any scheme are likely to be of the order of €3m per annum with retrospective costs of the order of at least €30m.

The Deputy should note that FÁS, under which CE operated at that time, was not the employer of CE supervisors and such employees are not public servants. Neither was FÁS a party to the Labour Court dispute on this matter. Responsibility for CE transferred from FÁS to the Department of Social Protection in January 2012. The Department does not accept it has any liability in respect of this matter. The responsibilities of the sponsoring organisations and the individuals concerned must also be recognised when considering pension provision arrangements.