Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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77. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the changes made to the rural social scheme since 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17611/17]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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85. To ask the Minister for Social Protection his plans for the future of the rural social scheme and community employment; the impact these changes will have on current participants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17952/17]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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359. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the changes he has made to the rural social scheme since becoming Minister; if this scheme is now considered an activation scheme with a fixed term on it, as opposed to a supplementary work scheme, without limit of duration on the scheme until pension age, for low income farmers and fishermen that already have an occupation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17673/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 77, 85 and 359 together.

The rural social scheme (RSS) is an income support initiative which provides part-time employment opportunities in community and voluntary organisations for farmers or fishermen who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments and underemployed in their primary occupation. The RSS is a supplementary income support scheme.

The following changes have been made to the RSS since 2011:

- September 2012 - the eligibility conditions that applied to an increase for a qualified adult of a rural social scheme participant were revised. From that date, the rate of increase for a qualified adult is based on the family rate of the underlying qualifying payment. Prior to that date, an increase for a qualified adult was only payable if their gross income was less than €310 per week.

- January 2016 - the personal rate increased from €208 to €210.50 and jobseekers benefit was removed from the list of qualifying payments.

- February 2017 - an additional 500 places on the RSS were made available with effect from 1 February 2017.

- February 2017 - entrants to the RSS must be 25 years of age and over and a 6 year overall participation limit was introduced for new entrants. This ensures that a throughput of places is available and that younger people have an opportunity to explore other training or education options before participating on a long term-work programme. RSS participants who commenced prior to 1 February 2017 may remain on the scheme as long as they continue to satisfy the eligibility conditions. These new conditions only apply to new RSS participants.

- March 2017 - the personal rate of payment increased from €210.50 to €215.50.

I have seen at first-hand myself from visits to various schemes around the country over the past few months how programmes like CE and the RSS deliver both for participants and for their communities.

The Government’s commitment to these programmes is clearly demonstrated by the announcement of the additional 500 RSS places in Budget 2017, the first increase in places since 2006. Furthermore, I recently announced changes which will widen the range of people who can take part in CE, including reducing the entry age to 21 and giving a second opportunity to people who have already taken part. These changes will be rolled out following a consultation process with stakeholders in the coming weeks.