Ruairí Ó Murchú

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I will deal initially with auto-enrolment. In fairness, it has been said by a number of my colleagues that we are not against it in principle, but we do not agree with the methodology behind the operation of this particular auto-enrolment scheme. Obviously, the issue is that we believe the home of this money should have been the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, and it could have been put aside for infrastructural spending and whatever. However, I would like to deal very specifically with the issues that have been brought to me by a number of organisations in my constituency. I tabled a parliamentary question in relation to community organisations, not-for-profits, charities, etc. We all know the organisations we are talking about across the board. I can get rid of an awful lot of the fluff in this answer. There has also been an extensive communication campaign to inform people that the scheme will commence on 1 January 2026. Therefore, employers have been given a substantial lead-in period to budget appropriately for its introduction, including through budget negotiation with a sponsor, where appropriate. We are talking about a number of organisations where it is the State that supplies the money, such as the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, which supplies money to Pobal. I will go through some of the organisations. We have The House on Cox's Demesne, which does everything from breakfast clubs right through to probation services; the Redeemer Family Resource Centre, which does a huge amount of work; Mid Louth Youth Services; Outcomers, which deals with, and has for many years, LGBT citizens who have been impacted greatly; and places like Muirhevnamor Community Centre. We could probably rhyme off a whole pile of organisations. We are talking about those that are funded through Pobal, the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, UBU and organisations under the Department of Education and Youth. When we are talking about youth diversion and probation, we are talking about the Department of justice. There are organisations that are doing work funded through Tusla and the Department of children. They are getting different answers from every Department in relation to this, but at the end of the day, the State is what supplies the money. Whatever about the first year, it is 1.5% on a one-for-one basis and based on gross earnings, but that is years one to three. In years four to six, it jumps to 3%. In years seven and nine, it is 4.5%. After ten years, it goes to 6%. Therefore, there will be monetary issues straight away, but they can get significantly worse. There needs to be a greater level of communication. The Minister might engage with his own Department of rural and community development and those others to make contact with these organisations because they are very worried about this. We have dealt before with the cost of disability and work activation. I would say straight out that the cost of disability payment is the major thing that was missing from that budget. However, the Minister knows that the work and access programme needs a hell of a lot of work. On the wage subsidy scheme, there are huge issues for those who employ a number of disabled people. We also need to look at the wider issue. The likes of Intreo workers could probably play a vital role if we are talking about WorkAbility-type projects to ensure there is a route map for those with disabilities into good employment. We need to look at all of this. Mr. Eddie Hennessy spoke about the need for a fund in relation to entrepreneurship at the disability matters committee. The biggest issue was the absolute fear of losing disability allowance. We have seen some changes-----

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-----and some movement but there is a lot more to do. Unfortunately, I have no more time. There has been some flexibility shown to me by the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, so I thank him for that.

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