Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 July 2020
29. Deputy Martin Browne asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his views on a Labour Court recommendation that the State should put in place an occupational pension arrangement for community employment scheme supervisors; his plans to give effect to the recommendation; his further plans to engage with the sector and unions on the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16802/20]
View answerAs a newly appointed Minister, I intend to give careful consideration to this issue and I will meet directly with the relevant stakeholders in the period ahead.
I have a strong appreciation of the role of Community Employment Schemes in communities right across country and I know this role could not be fulfilled without the leadership of the Scheme Supervisors.
I am aware that the matter raised by the Deputy is a complex one that raises significant policy, legal and exchequer cost issues. I note the Labour Court recommendation from 2008. I have been advised by my officials that the State is not the employer of the workers concerned. I understand that this matter was discussed extensively at discussions of the Community Sector High Level Forum between public service management, which included inter alia officials from my Department, and union representatives a number of years ago. My Department carried out a detailed scoping exercise in 2017 in order to comprehensively examine and assess the full potential implications, in both cost and precedent terms, of the issues involved. The outcome to the scoping exercise was that the matter has potentially very significant implications for the Exchequer, particularly if consequential demands were to be made by all similar State funded Community and Voluntary organisations whose employees are in a similar position to the Community Employment scheme supervisors.
This is a factor which must be borne in mind in our approach to this issue. While CE supervisors and assistant supervisors represent a small part of the wider community and voluntary sector, consideration must be taken for the potential liability to the State if similar claims are made by the many workers in the broader community and voluntary sector.
As the Deputy will appreciate, we are now facing huge challenges in managing the public finances. However, I intend to consider all the issues involved and will engage constructively with the relevant stakeholders.
