Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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1072. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the fact that her Department has failed to honour an enhanced redundancy agreement for community employment supervisors since 2014; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28855/22]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1074. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will provide an update on the enhanced redundancy agreements for community employment supervisors since 2014; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28892/22]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1072 and 1074 together.

I am aware of the valuable and dedicated service that Community Employment (CE) supervisors and assistant supervisors provide in running CE schemes in delivering local based community services, while providing training and development opportunities to the long-term unemployed and to those often furthest removed from the labour market.

If circumstances arise where a CE supervisor is made redundant by their employer (the sponsor organisation) and qualifies for a payment under the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967, the supervisor would be entitled to statutory redundancy at a rate of two weeks’ pay per year of service, plus a further week’s pay, subject to a limit of €600 per week. 

The Department is not the employer of CE supervisors and payment of redundancy over and above the statutory requirement is a matter for the employer which in this instance is the CE sponsor.  Generally where CE schemes close, every effort is made to maintain services through amalgamation with other schemes with employment maintained for CE supervisors and places protected for participants.  This minimises the need for redundancy, but where a redundancy arises, it is an issue for the employer to resolve. 

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputies.