Community employment supervisors pension
Deputy Bobby Aylward pressed for action on pensions for community employment scheme supervisors, citing a Labour Court recommendation and asking for a meeting. The Taoiseach said he valued their work but they were not public servants and any recommendation applied to the employer, not the Government.
I have raised the matter of community employment scheme supervisors on several occasions. To date, nothing has happened even though there was a recommendation by the Labour Court in 2008 to the effect that community employment scheme supervisors should have an occupational pension scheme. This Government has completely ignored their request and the recommendation by the Labour Court. I am asking that either the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection or the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform meet with the supervisors to try to thrash this out once and for all. I am constantly being contacted by community employment scheme supervisors in my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny. These people play a very important role in getting young people in particular back into the labour force. Will the Government recognise their request, sit down and talk to them and try to give them a pension scheme?
Comment on this
I acknowledge and value the work done by community employment schemes and those who supervise them. I had some very good engagement with them when I was Minister for Social Protection but as the Deputy knows, community employment scheme supervisors are not public servants. They are not our employees and any Labour Court recommendation that is made applies to the employer, which is not the Government in this case.