Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2015
206. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the level of negotiations her Department has held with the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union regarding community employment supervisors' pensions, and her strategy to bring these conclusions to a satisfactory conclusion without delay. [25074/15]
View answerDiscussions at the invitation of SIPTU and Impact, which took place earlier this year, were conducted with the Department’s CE Policy Unit.
The Deputy will be aware that CE supervisors are the employees of private companies. In the circumstances, it is not possible for the State to take over responsibility for funding pension arrangements for employees of private companies, even where those companies are reliant on State funding. This position was confirmed by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (D/PER) to this Department in March of this year.
The D/PER’s position is that private companies contracted by the State to provide a service, including those in the community sector, must manage their expenditure pressures, including labour and pension costs, from within existing funding levels.
It should be noted that the Department of Social Protection is not the employer of CE supervisors and such employees are not public servants. They are employees of limited companies that receive public funding. If this pension claim was to be funded by the State, it would have an impact on pay costs and would result in potential claims from employees of other companies that receive State funding and operate in the community and voluntary sectors.
