Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 November 2021
396. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason community employment supervisors who have received statutory redundancy are excluded from the gratuity payment upon reaching State pension age while retired community employment supervisors are eligible to apply; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55944/21]
View answer397. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Social Protection if acceptance of the agreement reached with unions (details supplied) in relation to community employment supervisors will preclude those who were provided standard statutory redundancy payments from the once-off gratuity payment in lieu of a community employment pension that was committed to by the Labour Court in 2008; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55945/21]
View answer407. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of the latest proposals by her Department to address the issue of the provision of pensions to community employment supervisors; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56167/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 396, 397 and 407 together.
As the Deputies will be aware, CE supervisors and CE assistant supervisors have been seeking for several years, through their union representatives, SIPTU and Forsa, the allocation of Exchequer funding to implement a 2008 Labour Court recommendation relating to the provision of a pension scheme for CE supervisors and CE assistant supervisors who are employed by CE scheme sponsors. This claim creates some difficulties because the State is not the employer of the supervisors.
Within this context, officials from my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform held discussions on proposals to progress and resolve this complex issue, while having regard to the wider budgetary framework. Department officials also held discussions with unions representing CE supervisors and CE assistant supervisors.
At the start of April this year, agreement was reached between the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the Minister for Social Protection on proposals to resolve the long-standing issue.
Since that time, discussions on these proposals took place between my Department and the unions representing CE supervisors and CE assistant supervisors, in consultation with other relevant Government Departments; the Department of Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Finance.
Department officials wrote to both SIPTU and Forsa recently setting out the terms of a full and final settlement which will involve a once off ex-gratia payment to CE supervisors and assistant supervisors on reaching pension age. The total value of the financial package now on the table is in excess of €24 million.
This scheme will apply to all supervisors who have retired since 2008, subject to qualifying criteria and has the potential to benefit up to 2,200 existing and former CE supervisors and CE assistant supervisors. As with all settlements it is subject to certain qualifying criteria in order to ensure that it is a fair and equitable while ensuring it does not place an undue burden on the exchequer.
This proposal is currently under consideration by the unions representing CE supervisors and assistant supervisors. As such it would not be appropriate for me to comment further at this time.
I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputies.
