The Government needs to carry out an urgent review of payments made to those on CE, TUS and RSS schemes and there is a need for better incentives.
That's according to Cllr Shane P O'Reilly who asked that a letter be sent to the Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys to re-examine the system during this week's meeting of Cavan Co Council.
During Monday's local authority meeting in Kingscourt, Cllr O'Reilly said it was his opinion that there were people attending interviews for these schemes 'just to tick boxes' and were subsequently able to 'claim money for another 12 months' just because they 'showed up'.
He also pointed out that there needs to be an incentive for those people who genuinely work while on the schemes, and an increase of 100 euro per week would therefore be necessary.
The work these people do for their communities is outstanding and there must be a better monetary gain for their efforts, he added.
Cllr John Paul Feely who supported the motion, then pointed out that, while there was a support grant available with a number of schemes to assist with costs accrued by community groups, those grants were not available with every scheme.
Therefore, he added, it would be necessary to streamline support schemes because it was volunteers across the country that were managing the schemes in the first instance.
And, he added, It isn't any easy job because of all the red tape involved.
Meanwhile, Cllr TP O'Reilly told those gathered that seven people were invited for interview for a CE scheme vacancy in Virginia recently and just one person showed up for interview.
He said it should be noted when people don't show up for their interview, and they should be asked why they failed to attend.
Their payments should also be cut, he added.
