Community Employment Scheme workers who reach the age of 66 will not be allowed to continue participating in such schemes.
So confirmed the Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development, Joe O’Brien, has ruled it out saying that to do so could ‘undermine’ the scheme as an active labour market programme.
Minister O’Brien has also stated that no determination has yet been made with respect to demands for increased wages for CE supervisors and assistant supervisors.
This, according to Independent TD Carol Nolan, is despite the fact that Fórsa and SIPTU have both referred a pay claim to the conciliation service of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).
Minister O’Brien confirmed the information in a parliamentary reply to Independent TD for Laois-Offaly, Carol Nolan.
Deputy Nolan has been advocating for CE Scheme participants who wish to remain actively working and for CE Scheme supervisors who, the Independent TD says, have not received a pay increase since 2008.
“Almost every week I am contacted by CE Scheme workers who desperately want to remain active and more importantly, who want to continue contributing at the local level to their Schemes,” said Deputy Nolan.
“They do not want to ‘undermine’ the schemes, as the Minister fears they would do.
“They just want the option of being allowed to remain involved as valued community workers. The Minister will have to reconsider his position on this and introduce a more proportionate degree of flexibility.
“In terms of the pay claims issue. It is beyond insulting to CE supervisors that have been made to wait 15 years for even minimal levels of increases.
“The WRC process and the engagement by the both Minister O’Brien’s department and the Department of Public Expenditure must be escalated and prioritised so that this matter can be addressed as soon as possible.
“There is a particular need to do so given the increasing costs that CE Supervisors are having to meet in terms of materials and for which the materials grants contribution from the department does not adequately cover,” concluded Deputy Nolan.
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