John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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531. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if supervisors of the rural social scheme will be engaged with as part of the consultation process being undertaken by his Department on proposed changes to the scheme; if not, the reason; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19486/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The purpose of the rural social scheme (RSS) is to provide income support to farmers and fishermen and women who have an entitlement to specified social protection payments and who are underemployed in their primary occupation.

In recognition of the important work undertaken in rural communities under the scheme, I announced as part of budget 2017, an additional 500 places. These additional places became available with effect from 1st Feb 2017 bringing the total number of places to 3,100. The extra places will continue to be rolled out over the coming months.

The question of further additional places will be considered in the context of future Budgets. I have no plans at this time to make any further changes to the RSS scheme. However, my Department will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the scheme.

I hope that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.