Rural social scheme pay
Deputy Conway-Walsh called for meaningful engagement with supervisors and changes to the rural social and Tús schemes, including pay review. The Minister said the Social Protection Minister was examining the issue and had engaged with stakeholders.
Nearly 1,000 people between Castlebar and Athenry who are participating in the rural social scheme and Tús scheme gathered in rooms in the last number of weeks. I acknowledge that Deputy Calleary is also meeting with a group today on the same issue. There are things that need to be sorted.
Will the Minister ask the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, to engage meaningfully with supervisors to implement the very simple changes that are needed? Supervisors' pay has not been reviewed since 2008. We are also giving a top-up of €22.50 per week to these participants. It is a crazy situation. We need to widen the eligibility. The Minister for Social Protection needs to sit down and discuss this further with stakeholders.