Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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269. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reasons a company (details supplied) ceased to provide services in June 2017 despite the fact that they had a contract with Pobal under the community services programme with funding in place until December 2017; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45309/17]

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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273. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the level of funding that was allocated to a company (details supplied) under the community services programme in each of the years 2010 to 2017; and the level of staffing including full and part time in the company in each of the years 2017 to 2017, in tabular form. [45313/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 269 and 273 together.

As the Deputy is aware, the Community Services Programme (CSP) provides financial support to community companies that provide revenue generating services of a socially inclusive nature. The CSP works on a social-enterprise model which means that it does not fully fund contract holders but requires that they generate revenue by charging fees or raising funds. All CSP recipients are obliged to meet these criteria. These social enterprises also remain responsible for their own budgets and financial liabilities.

The organisation referred to by the Deputy received funding under the CSP for one manager and 4.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) posts. This equates to funding in the order of €117,648 per annum.

The organisation had a contract with Pobal up to 31stof December 2017 and was due to submit a business plan to re-contract this year. The company contacted Pobal stating its intention to voluntarily exit the programme and have since submitted exit documents. Pobal has had numerous communications with the board of the company during this year and a number of avenues were explored to help the company to remain in the programme. However, the company made the final decision and are proceeding with the exit process earlier than their current contract end date.

The Deputy will appreciate that any further information as to why this decision was taken should be addressed directly to the Board of Management of the company.

Table 1 shows the level of funding provided to the company and the staff numbers that were supported under the CSP in each of the years 2010 to 2017.

Table 1

*Level of funding taking exit date as 2nd of June 2017 - final expenditure to be agreed .

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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270. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason a number of persons (details supplied) employed by a company for 15 and 21 years, respectively, have not yet received overdue wages and holiday pay after the company prematurely exited a contract with Pobal under the community services programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45310/17]

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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271. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the avenue of redress that is available to previous employees of a company (details supplied) that are seeking payment of overdue wages and holiday pay after the company ceased to provide services and prematurely exited a contract with Pobal under the community services programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45311/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 270 and 271 together.

As the Deputy is aware, the Community Services Programme (CSP) provides financial support to community companies that provide revenue generating services of a socially inclusive nature. CSP supports voluntary and community organisations in providing essential services and businesses to their communities.

The organisation referred to by the Deputy decided to voluntarily exit the CSP in advance of the end of their current contract with Pobal, who operate the CSP on behalf of my Department.

The organisation has been in contact with Pobal regarding their final exit payments. Holiday pay has been taken into account with their final claim and staff were paid up to and including the week ending the 26^thof May. However, with holiday pay this brought the final exit date to 8^thof June.

The company also requested additional payments for TOIL and sick leave from 2016. This was ruled out by Pobal for the following reasons:

- The company had already claimed the full wage contribution for all staff in the 2016 so there can be no further claim for 2016 for these FTEs. If any days or hours are owed to these staff members, it will have to be funded from monies already paid to the company or alternatively from the company’s own monies.

- If an individual is in receipt of their full salary while on sick/maternity leave, the sick/maternity benefit received from this Department should be taken into account and off-set against the grant expenditure when the benefit is received.

In this case it appears that the company claimed sick pay for an employee but did not offset it against wages and, therefore, claimed both wages and sick pay.

The above information has been communicated to the company. Furthermore, the Board of Management were informed that, as the employer who holds the contract of employment with its staff, it is up to the Board to ensure rules and regulations are adhered to and that any irregular payments are investigated and monies returned.

I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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272. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the board of management of a company (details supplied) brought staffing concerns and ongoing incidents to the attention of Pobal with which they were under contract under the community services programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45312/17]

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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274. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the person or body to which a company (details supplied) under the community services programme is ultimately answerable to in cases in which serious staffing concerns and ongoing incidents have not been adequately addressed; the sanctions that are in place regarding same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45314/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 272 and 274 together.

The Community Services Programme (CSP) is funded by my Department and is administered on its behalf by Pobal. The purpose of CSP is to support voluntary and community organisations to provide essential services and businesses to their communities with services designed to:

- Alleviate disadvantage;

- Promote sustainable social and economic development;

- Provide employment for those most distant from the labour market; and

- Strengthen local ownership through participation in decision-making.

The Programme supports the employment of individuals, who have previously been unemployed, in delivering the services to the community. Programme service providers are required to comply with all applicable legal and statutory requirements. They are required to discharge their activities to high standards of corporate governance expected of recipients of public funding.

The organisation referred to by the Deputy decided to voluntarily exit the CSP in advance of the end of their current contract with Pobal.

The manager of the company contacted Pobal in November 2016 and made Pobal aware verbally that there were staffing issues and concerns. Pobal informed the manager that the board of management were the employers and that staffing issues needed to be addressed through this route.

The programme company or co-operative is the employer of all staff in posts supported by the programme and is responsible for determining its recruitment and the terms and conditions of employment. This includes grievance procedures and human resources policies. These are reviewed by Pobal as part of the re-contracting process and form part of the evidence used by Pobal in assessing suitability for continued funding under the programme.

I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.