Mattie McGrath: Urgent plea to save rural community employment schemes

regarding the community employment schemes and the fact that it is nearly impossible now to retain participants on the schemes. I am chairman of the scheme myself, and I know it is not your remit totally, but this has a huge impact on rural organisations, rural communities, and the viability and sustainability of the same, if you could make a statement on the matter. Thank you, Deputy McGrath. Again, this is a question that fits across both my roles. The Government recognises and values the many contributions that are being made in temporary by not-for-profit, voluntary and community organisations, and indeed I commend your own work in this space. The Department of Rural Community Development supports the community and voluntary sector through a number of schemes, in particular the Community Services Programme, SICAP, and the scheme to support volunteering. The Community Services Programme supports 428 community-based organisations with a budget in 2025 of 55.4 million. This provides local services through a social enterprise model. In 2023, the majority of CSB-funded organisations were awarded five-year contracts, which has provided a certainty in terms of operation and employment. In addition, and in recognition of the higher costs arising from increases in statutory minimum wage, the contribution towards employment costs for those organisations with medium or high funding needs has increased. SICAP, as I have said previously, is a national programme delivered in both rural and urban areas by local development companies to help those in greatest need. It aims to reduce poverty, promote social inclusion and equality by supporting disadvantaged communities and individuals. My Department has contributed over 47.4 million in 2024 for PSICAP and committed over 48.9 million for 2025. Finally, Ireland's volunteering structures are recognised as a model of best practice. More than 1 million people volunteer regularly in Ireland and I am committed to supporting them in this work. Funding from my Department to the volunteer sector has increased from 3.1 million in 2020 to 7.3 million in 2025. However, I am very aware that challenges are made, particularly in the schemes referred to by the Deputy, and I am working in the Department of Social Protection to make changes to those schemes so that we will be able to attract more participants to them and encourage more people to get involved in their local communities through the fantastic work of CE, RSS, ANTHUIS. I do know that you are hands-on here because you do understand it yourself because you are from a rural community. It is just impossible. It is so strange that the volunteers and the volunteer boards are trying to fill these positions and trying to get their work done and keep the whole platter of areas, schemes such as rural transport services, meals on wheels, day care, community centres, tidy towns groups and under enormous strain. While many of the other groups receive state support, that is no good if they do not have the workers. The scheme needs to be tweaked. I know some years ago people were allowed to carry on their work until their retirement age. I think that must be looked at again because it allowed that because they just made full employment as we are told it is hard to get participants. But these people and our own scheme scheme and the community supervisor Sean Byrne in our own three villages, Bellam and Cadbury, Newcastle and indeed Belly Bacon. And that's throughout the two counties. So it's really bringing things together as well. We might be in the holding field last week against water for Tipperary, but we worked together with the naturally called the Kela attitude and that's the way it is. And I want to countenance all the participants and all the schemes throughout Tipperary and every place else. They do a meaningful job and they don't get a lot of reward at the time, but they do excellent work. Despite all our GA talk we have managed to avoid last weekend up until your intervention there Deputy, it suited me anyway. I would also point out Deputy that we have just made announcements this year under the growing social enterprise fund, sorry, this week. So we've, the Bar of Sillay Community Centre in Tipperary has been awarded 15,000 for solar panel installation. Cannon Hayes Centre, which I know you're very familiar with, has been awarded 11,559. Clock Jordan 15,000. Newport Development Association, 3,800. 45,000 for the Millennium Family Resource Centre in Tipperary to assist them in their work. And you know, they're the kind of specific interventions that are assisting local groups in your county to continue their work and to grow the expansion of their service. And I said with my social protection add-on we are looking at what we can do to enhance the schemes to make them more attractive participants. But a scheme is totally dependent on our supervisors, and I want to acknowledge the amazing work of supervisors on CE, on RSS and on tools right around the country. And I'm very happy that we've just secured some pay awards recently in that space, and we will continue to grow the scheme, grow the impact of the scheme. Mr McGrath. And the volunteer boards, and you mentioned the places in Tipperary, like the Raleigh Resource Centre, and indeed the Millennium Centre, and of course, Bayfield and Castle. But there's 160 vacancies now across the schemes in Tipperary. Recent data has shown so it's very difficult for this time of year to cover to cover everything. Tidy towns, GAs, community groups and all the other issues that are involved in Meads and Wheels and indeed community centres. I just haven't got enough staff. I want to thank the people in the department that we did as well, the officials that helped us out and have given us kind of extensions, rolling over extensions to keep the schemes alive because we can't get the participants. The participants are needed so the criteria has to be made easier and especially looking for people that are in the late 50s, allow them to stay on the scheme until they're retired because the possibility of them retraining and going back to work. Our own scheme has been very successful in progression and that's part of our problem because we have put people back into self-employed, into jobs and it's been great because it benefits the participants and the community. I do appreciate that you are trying to tweak it and you will tweak it. I look forward to a positive outcome and our schemes will continue to do the value we are working on doing. The scheme is doing superb work. I just compliment you and all the volunteers that run them and that are on the boards. I have the report into the Future of Rural Social Scheme which I'm looking at at the moment. We will be making some announcements imminently around that. Again, about making it easier for you to get participants. I very much believe and you and I have had this discussion before that our schemes are changed. They are no longer labour market activation schemes totally. There are much more community social support schemes, community support schemes and the changes I'm looking at making will reflect the change of that scheme. That it's important that we give people a chance to support local communities. It's a matter of pride for them. It's a matter of identity for many people. I think we need to review how we look at the schemes and how we approach the schemes. That's something I'm very focused on at the moment.