Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left)
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28. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will increase the annual grant allocation from Pobal to meet the bills community dervice programmes, such as the Cherry Orchard Equine Centre (details supplied), will face due to the welcome increase in the minimum wage, given that she has received correspondence from 65 programmes highlighting this serious issue, many of which do not have the wherewithal to meet this increase in costs. [1189/16]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department of Social Protection supports service provision through a number of programmes and schemes. e community services programme (CSP) provides financial support in the form a contribution to the cost of wages to community companies that provide revenue generating services of a social inclusion nature in their areas.

The centre referred to by the Deputy receives a contribution towards its wage costs of some €241,000 per annum. e centre is funded from a range of additional sources and revenue generated from the public use of its facilities. The CSP provides a contribution to the wage costs on the basis that the services are not fully self-financing or the cost of provision would be prohibitive on users. The Department does not set the wage rate but requires the payment of appropriate wage rates consistent with local norms.

At December 2015, 398 companies employing some 2,800 employees were directly supported by the CSP. The Department estimates that some 60% of these employees were being paid above the level of the minimum wage at the end of 2015, in keeping with the social inclusion and social benefit objectives of the programme. e Department is committed to working with the remaining companies to achieve the objective of paying a reasonable wage. The Deputy should note that the CSP accounts for less than a third of the resources generated by these companies.

Contracts of up to three year duration are provided for under the CSP. Arrangements whereby individual companies will be able access additional financial resources to compensate for the welcome increase in the minimum wage are being put in place. Submissions will be assessed on a case-by-case basis with the annual funding commitment being adjusted accordingly, where it is found to be warranted. An advance of 25% of the contract commitments for 2016 has been, or is in the course of being, paid to companies currently in contract to the programme.

Overall, I am satisfied that the level of resources available to the CSP in 2016 at just over €45 million will be adequate to meet the on-going funding needs of the programme.