Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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85. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection why she has not accepted an invitation from the Workplace Relations Commission to participate in talks with the Irish Local Development Network and the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union on resolving employment issues pertaining to the rural social scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46197/15]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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86. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if officials from her Department are engaging with the Irish Local Development Network in relation to employment issues pertaining to the rural social scheme; why worker representatives of the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union are not included in these talks; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46198/15]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 85 and 86 together.

The rural social scheme (RSS) provides income support for farmers and those engaged in fishing who have an entitlement to specified social welfare payments on the basis of low means. Key criteria for participation and continued eligibility for the scheme is that the participant is underemployed in their primary activity i.e. either farming or fishing, and that earnings are insufficient. Participants are engaged for 19½ hours per week to provide certain services of benefit to rural communities. The scheme currently provides work opportunities for around 2,600 participants and 130 supervisory staff. The funds allocated for the RSS in 2015 is €45m and this level of funding will allow the scheme to continue along the same lines as in previous years but does not allow for the recruitment above the numbers stated above.

The Department has no role with respect to industrial or employment-related matters that SIPTU has asked the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to consider. The Department has written to the LRC, the forerunner to the WRC, to set out and clarify its position. Issues of the nature referred to by the Deputy are for determination between the employers (the local development companies engaged by the Department to deliver the scheme) and their employees.

The Department engages with local development companies and Údarás na Gaeltachta (collectively referred to as implementing bodies within the programmes) with respect to the management and co-ordination of delivery of the rural social scheme and Tús – the community work placement initiative. The Department meets with the implementing bodies at frequent intervals throughout the year to monitor implementation, discuss matters arising with implementation and agree common responses to matters impacting on the delivery of the schemes. Given the respective roles of the Department and implementing bodies, the position of workers is represented by the latter.