“Community Employment Supervisors and Assistant Supervisors are being frustrated in their attempts to secure occupational pensions by a Government that is unwilling to follow previous Labour Court recommendations,” said Fianna Fáil’s Spokesperson on Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Willie O’Dea.
Deputy O’Dea was commenting ahead of his party’s PMB on the matter which will be debated tonight in Dáil Éireann which calls for a satisfactory pathway to be found to address the pension issue for the 1,250 CE Supervisors and Assistant Supervisors based on the 2008 Labour Court recommendation.
“In July 2008, the Labour Court recommended that an agreed pension scheme should be introduced for CE Supervisors and Assistant Supervisors and that such a scheme should be adequately funded by FÁS, the funding agency responsible for CE at that time.
“It was estimated at the time that a figure of €3.3 million per year was required to adequate fund the pension scheme.
“A High Level Forum was set up and published a report last November which outlined the costs involved to resolve this long standing issue in November last. To date the Minister for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform has sat on his hands, failed to meet with CE Supervisors and no progress has been made for the 1,250 people affected.
“Community Employment schemes are an intrinsic part of communities the length and breadth of this country and supervisors and assistant supervisors are key to their success.
“Since the 2008 Labour Court recommendation, more than 250 have retired with no occupation pension entitlements.
“It has now come to the point where they are now considering industrial action due to the Government’s inaction and failure to adequately address this issue.
“Last week, my colleagues Mary Butler TD and Dara Calleary TD organised a briefing in Leinster House on this issue, and there is a cross party support to finding a solution to this unfair anomaly.
“These employees need the Government to do the right thing, and set out a pathway to providing them with the pensions that they are owed. The Government cannot sit on its hands any longer,” concluded O’Dea.
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