Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 July 2016
472. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Social Protection to discuss the expectation of community services programmes, CSPs, to pay market rates and the living wage where possible, given that his Department's contribution to CSPs no longer matches the legal minimum wage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22852/16]
View answerThe Community Services Programme (CSP) provides financial support to community companies that provide revenue generating services of a social inclusion nature. Many of these companies are also funded from other sources and generate revenue from the public use of their facilities and services.
A total of 404 service providers are supported under the CSP to provide local social, economic and environmental services through the application of a social enterprise model of delivery. The Department estimates that, at the end of 2015, 60% of the employees of these companies were being paid above the level of the minimum wage, in keeping with the social inclusion and social benefit objectives of the programme. The Deputy should note that the CSP accounts for less than a third of the resources generated by these companies.
The Department is committed to working with the remaining companies to achieve the objective of paying a reasonable wage. A process has been put in place to assist and support existing funded companies who are not in a position to cover the increase in the minimum wage for 2016.
