CE Supervisors are not employed by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. CE Supervisors have always been employees of Community Employment Sponsoring Bodies which operate in the community and voluntary sector. However, earlier this year, I undertook to engage with unions representing CE supervisors to address issues of concern to their members and this process is ongoing at present.
FÁS was not a party to the hearing in the Labour Court in 2008 but did provide a statement making clear that it was not the employer of the supervisors. As CE Supervisors are not public servants on the public payroll neither the Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovation (which then had responsibility for CE) nor the Department of Finance (pre Public Expenditure and Reform) were parties to the case when it was heard by the Labour Court.
The state is not responsible for funding pension arrangements for employees of private companies, even where the companies in question are reliant on State funding. Pension arrangements are a matter to be agreed between employees and their employers.