Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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214. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide additional rural social scheme spaces to Údarás na Gaeltachta catering for the Ballinskelligs, the Glen, Waterville, Dromid and Caherdaniel areas of County Kerry to ensure essential services such as day care centres, meals on wheels, bus and laundry services and house respite can be maintained; if, due to the diminishing number of eligible persons available for RSS in the area, she will be flexible in applying the rules for eligibility for recruitment of suitable persons to participate in their Údarás region; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41847/14]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The purpose of the rural social scheme (RSS) is to provide income support for farmers and those engaged in the fishing sectors that have an entitlement to specified social welfare payments and to support the delivery of needed services to rural communities. The scheme currently provides work opportunities for around 2,600 participants. Údarás na Gaeltachta has an RSS allocation of 437 participants and 21 supervisors. I do not propose allocating additional places to Údarás given its own capacity to allocate these resources to meet applications from community organisations seeking support for service delivery. The identification of organisations and decisions in respect of the allocation of resources are matters for Údarás.

The Deputy should also note that Údarás is also engaged by the Department to deliver Tús, the community work placement initiative, and Community Employment (CE) in Gaeltacht areas. The numbers allocated for Tús is 200 places and for CE is 366. With over 1,000 placements under various schemes available, I consider that Údarás has sufficient resources to manage the issues identified.