Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 September 2020
131. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding the implementation of the Labour Court recommendation that community employment supervisors should be entitled to a pension or gratuity; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24499/20]
View answer133. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding community employment scheme supervisor pensions. [24454/20]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 131 and 133 together.
As the Deputy will be aware, Community Employment (CE) supervisors and assistant supervisors have been seeking for several years, through their union representatives, the allocation of Exchequer funding to implement a 2008 Labour Court recommendation relating to the provision of a pension scheme.
CE sponsoring authorities are the legal employers of their CE supervisors, CE assistant supervisors and CE participants; the Department’s role continues to be that of CE funder.
The issue was examined by a Community Sector High Level Forum, chaired by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. A number of Departments including my own Department were represented on this group, as were the unions and Pobal.
A detailed scoping exercise was carried out with input from the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES) on the potential costs of providing Exchequer support for the establishment of such a pension scheme for employees across the Community and Voluntary sector in Ireland. This exercise estimated a potential cost to the State of between €188 million and €347 million per annum depending on the numbers involved. This excluded any provision for an immediate ex-gratia lump sum payment of pension as sought, which could entail a further Exchequer cost of up to €318 million.
Officials from my Department held a series of meetings with CE supervisor union representatives to consider a range of proposals, mindful of the wider environment and the financial implications of any such proposals. Discussions were also undertaken with my Department officials and their counterparts in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER). These discussions are ongoing.
