CE workers fear cuts will hit unemployed

COMMUNITY workers on the Southside have warned that
cuts to employment schemes announced by the Government will deny those on
social welfare the opportunity of getting back to work.

The Government is cutting

?¬41.5 million from the
budget for Community Employment (CE) schemes.

The schemes help the long-term unemployed and other
disadvantaged people get back into the workforce.

Critics of the cuts say they will significantly hinder
efforts to tackle long-term unemployment on the Southside.

In the budget the Government announced that it would
cut the training and materials grants for each participant in CE programmes by
66 per cent, from

?¬1,500 to

?¬500.

But after the cuts generated considerable controversy
Social Protection Minister, Joan Burton TD (Lab), decided not to implement the
measures immediately and asked instead that value for money reviews be
conducted into all 1,143 CE schemes.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has since said that despite the
review the cuts will not be completely reversed.

Margaret Fitzpatrick is the manager of the Dublin 12
Congress Centre for the unemployed on the Drimnagh Road.

She said 293 people in the area are currently
participating in 14 different CE schemes that will be affected by the cuts.

She warned that if the cuts are implemented the centre
will have to close. She said this would also mean that CE scheme participants
will lose their places on the programme.

“The cuts will close us down because we are a non
profit organisation and we don’t make any money from the unemployed,

? she said.

“We provide a CV and email services. We offer social
welfare appeals information. We also run a jobs’ club on a monthly basis and on
top of all that we access free training for those who are not in receipt of
benefits to help them get back into the workforce.

“We also keep 26 people in part time employment and
employ 11 people in a jobs initiative scheme.

?

Daithi Doolan, a Sinn Féin activist, slammed the
Government for what he described as massive cuts to the budgets of some 56 CE
schemes in Ballyfermot, Drimnagh, Bluebell, Crumlin and the south inner city.

“Many schemes will find it next to impossible to
function with that severe cut,

? he said.

“Here we have 56 schemes providing
essential services to the public.

“They were set up to provide support and training for
the long term unemployed. With over 100,000 people unemployed in Dublin, we
need investment in CE schemes more than ever.

?

A spokesperson at the Department of Social Protection
insisted that no Community Employment schemes will close pending the outcome of
a review.

“The purpose of the review is to establish the ongoing
viability of each scheme in the context of the overall objectives of the CE
programme,

? she said.