As Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Tánaiste will know we have nearly 2.5 million people working in the country and record low levels of unemployment. That is posing a recruitment challenge for organisations right across the country, including community employment organisations. I have been approached by Erin's Isle, my local GAA club, and by many other community employment organisations in my area, asking for a full review of the community employment schemes. Community employment schemes have many different shapes and sizes. They can be large NGOs with large payrolls and paid staff. They can be small parish halls or services that perhaps should be provided by the State, such as meals on wheels. We have to review community employment. We have to review the difference in payment between that scheme and some other social welfare payments and we have to better resource our community employment.

The opportunity to do that is with the Minister who has responsibility for both community development and social welfare. I ask that this be communicated to her.

I thank the Deputy for his question. A review of the community employment scheme was published just before Christmas last year. We have initiated a number of changes to eligibility for the scheme, both late last year and again this year, to ensure services are in a position to continue throughout the country. This year also saw the end of a very long story involving community employment supervisors' pension gratuities. We finally got to that gate and payments have started. My officials have met with union officials in recent weeks regarding the issue the Deputy raised and there is an agreement to meet again before the year is out.