Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 September 2014
138. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will review her Department's policy of forcing retirement from community employment of supervisors and assistants once they reach the age of 66 years; her views on whether this treatment is fair, or legal; if she will take steps to cease this discriminatory practice; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35808/14]
View answerCommunity Employment (CE) is a non-statutory scheme put in place to support persons who are long-term unemployed and other vulnerable groups to gain the confidence and skills to re-enter the labour market. Schemes are sponsored by local community and voluntary groups who provide valuable support services to local communities. These sponsoring organisations employ supervisory staff to administer the scheme.
Funding under CE is provided under the following four headings:
- Participant Allowances;
- Material Costs (running costs/overheads/insurance, etc.);
- Training Costs; and
- Supervision Costs
Funding is provided by the Department to the Sponsoring Organisations for the employment of staff between the ages of 25 to 65 years (up to the Friday prior to becoming 66 years). This is a long established procedure which sponsoring organisations have signed up to as part of their contractual arrangement with the Department and it is applied equally across all schemes participating on CE.
I have no plans to change these arrangements.
