Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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520. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if he will address issues with regard to pensions for community employment supervisors (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19166/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Community Employment (CE) supervisors are not employed by my Department – rather they are employees of private companies in the community and voluntary sector. Contracts with CE sponsors and my Department are subject to the continuing availability of funding. The period for which a CE sponsor contracts with the supervisor is a matter between those two parties. In general, it is important that supervisors contract reflect that the positions are subject to continued funding from the Department of Social Protection.

The Deputy should note that, in the past, CE supervisors have benefited from pay increases linked to all phases of Benchmarking, Sustaining Progress (Parts 1 and 2) and Towards 2016 (all 4 phases). It is also worth noting that CE supervisors experienced no reduction in pay over recent years as a result of other public sector adjustments.

Given that CE supervisors are employees of private companies in the community and voluntary sector, the State is not responsible for funding pension arrangements for such employees even where the companies in question are reliant on State funding. It is open to individual CE supervisors to make provision for a pension by way of PRSA which all employers are obliged to facilitate.

Nevertheless, the issue of CE supervisors’ pension provision is currently being examined by a Community Sector High Level Forum under the auspices and chairmanship of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. My Department is represented on this group, as are IMPACT and SIPTU, the Department of Environment and Pobal. The Forum last met on 7 April, 2017 and I understand that their work is on-going.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.