Éamon Ó Cuív urges swift fixes to Rural Social Scheme

Minister, this is basically to ask you about the review that is taking place in the Rural Social Scheme, and when it is likely to be completed, because there are changes needed urgently to that scheme, which has a large number of vacancies on it. Minister. The Rural Social Scheme implementing bodies undertake a diverse range of activities, including the regeneration and enhancement of community spaces, environmental maintenance work, and the staffing of cultural, tourism, and heritage sites. I want to acknowledge the excellent work undertaken and the contribution that these schemes and their workers make to communities across the country. The RSS has a budget of over €51 million in 2023 and currently has over 2,800 participants. The Deputy will be aware that the six-year participation limit was removed prior to the commencement of the review. I set up an RSS review steering group late last year, which comprises a range of key stakeholders representing statutory voluntary community and farming organisations, with an independent chair to oversee the group. The RSS review will examine the current and future role of the scheme and the changes required to ensure its continuing relevance in a changing economic and environmental landscape. In addition, it can make recommendations as the most appropriate resource in governance and management arrangements for the scheme. The consultation process is currently underway with an online survey issuing scheme supervisors, participants, implementing bodies and placement providers. Additionally, interested parties will be invited to make written submissions on a number of key themes that have been identified by the steering group. consideration has also been given to hold a number of focus groups and workshops and we will be holding an event later this year as well to facilitate those groups and workshops. Ultimately, it is anticipated that the review will be completed by the end of the year. I look forward to receiving the review report and expect that the recommendations will focus on ensuring the best outcomes for both participants and their local communities going forward. Mr. Minister, when ministers are advised in scripts by the end of the year and so on, I always take that with a pinch of salt. It could be well into next year. In fact, we could be on top of an election if the teacher calls the election when he said he would call the election in the next autumn for 12 months. Minister, in the meantime, would you consider reversing the change that was made to the means testing and the schemes? Because, by definition, all of these are small farmers and all of them have an income. The reality is that for people with adult dependents or child dependents, what they are getting paid is €27.50 for 19.5 hours a week. That is what they are getting paid. That is €1.50 an hour. I think it is fair to say that all you have to do is go round to all the football pitches around the country and all the little villages and towns and see all the tiny towns work that is done. It is the most amazing scheme. It just really delivers because, obviously, these are very expert people and they are all farmers. Thank you, Deputy. So, Minister, in the meantime, while this long, involved and convoluted review is taking place, would you consider reversing the changes that were made to the means testing of the scheme? Thank you, Deputy. And pay everybody the full rate that you should be getting. The ring wants to come in on this one. Thank you, Deputy. I dispute the fact that I think that I understand why people are concerned that it might drag on. I am determined that it is going to be as tight as possible. At the same time, we do need to get views in because I do want to refresh it. I do not want to just make one or two tweaks to it. I think the scheme has huge potential in the long term as well. There are opportunities out there that we need to consider that perhaps the Rural Social Scheme hasn't got into before. Ostensibly, it is labelled as an income support scheme. But you know as well as I do that people in the Rural Social Scheme, they do not get involved for the money. They get involved for the community aspect. They get involved for being involved to be a part of a community. Ultimately, it is a social inclusion scheme and a mental health scheme as well. There are lots of co-benefits, to use the phrase, that need to be identified and acknowledged by other departments that are at the table of the review as well. They need to play their part as well. I wish I had the power to go, yes, let us just bump up the rates on it now. But I think we have to respect the review process as well. I expect there will be financial suggestions coming out of the review process. I will look at them in due course. Minister, I will let you in a little secret. I went to the Minister of Finance and he said, get a scheme to me by breakfast time tomorrow morning. I wrote the scheme out one morning. It was passed in the budget and set up. To be quite honest, if you went back to the people who participated in the scheme, particularly the people who got dependents, they said that the scheme was a good scheme. They got a lot of work done, very popular in rural Ireland, with high participation rates until they changed the rules and the means of testing. So will you reverse that rule change while you are doing your review? I cannot understand personally how it would take so long. I suspect that when all the review is done and all the changes will be very little. But will you in the meantime reverse and stop having people working for €27.50? The reality is that people with dependent adult spouses or partners or children are not going in the scheme. Yes, it is good for people who are mentally healthy, less or whatever, but they, like everybody else in the country, have to put bread at the table. As you know, the labourer is worthy of their hire. Thank you. Now, Deputy O'Keefe invented the scheme, so he knows what he is talking about. I would not question Deputy O'Keefe's knowledge on the Rural Social Scheme ever. I think he will know as well in terms of the answer that I am able to give, and I will use the phrase it is a budgetary matter and I do not control the strings in the middle of a budget year as well. I strongly suspect, and I attended the first meeting of the review group, it was very clear that the income side of it came up there as well. We have had 1,000 submissions to the questionnaire that we have put out, so there is a bit of data in the process there, but I would be very surprised if proposals around increasing the rate of it were not a part of that, and if we have that volume of people participating and if we have high volumes of people saying that, it will certainly strengthen our hands at budget time to make the case you have made as well. Thank you.