Independent TD Carol Nolan has criticised the decision by Green Party minister Joe O'Brien to rule out allowing community employment (CE) workers who reach the pensioner's age of 66 to continue on the CE scheme.

The jobs initiative is designed to help long-term unemployed return to the workforce through placements in jobs in their local communities.

But the Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development has ruled out allowing those employees to work beyond 66, arguing they could "undermine" the scheme as an active labour market programme.

Minister O'Brien also stated that no determination has yet been made on calls for increased wages for CE supervisors and assistant supervisors, despite the fact Fórsa and Siptu have both referred a pay claim to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

Deputy Nolan said: "Almost every week, I am contacted by CE scheme workers who desperately want to remain active and more importantly, who want to continue contributing at the local level to their schemes.

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"They do not want to 'undermine' the schemes, as the minister fears they would do. They just want the option of being allowed to remain involved as valued community workers."

She said the minister "will have to reconsider his position".

On calls for higher wages, she added: "It is beyond insulting to CE supervisors that have been made to wait 15 years for even minimal levels of increases."