Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Gateway scheme has nothing to do with jobs and everything to do with spin. On coming into office the Government claimed that job creation was a priority. Since the Government made that idle promise in 2011, its job creation strategy can be summed up in one word - emigration.

It is important to dispel the myths about Gateway. It is not voluntary; it does not involve training or upskilling; it does not lead to a real job; and it is not about putting something back into the community, as the Taoiseach would have us believe. Far from being part of the solution, Gateway is part of the problem. This Government programme is an attack on workers' rights. While I can somewhat understand why Fine Gael might support this programme, I am shocked at the Labour Party's commitment to this workfare. It undermines workers' rights by sending message that it is acceptable to pay €1 an hour for someone's labour. Trade unions must join us and send out a clear message. Gateway is a shot across the bow of organised labour and we will organise to oppose it.

Some 3,000 positions have been identified as available for Gateway. If 3,000 jobs are waiting to be filled, these jobs should be filled in a transparent and proper fashion. Gateway forces unemployed people to carry out work for local authorities through the threat of cuts and suspensions to welfare payments. Gateway is not about creating real sustainable jobs. There is no structured or formal training involved. It is expressly intended that the participants will do the work that local authorities can no longer do as a result of the recruitment embargo.

In my constituency of Cork East, people are genuinely worried that they may be forced to travel long distances to take up Gateway workfare. As there is no travel allowance, the extra €20 will have to be spent on travel. Between Cork City Council and Cork County Council, a total of 325 places need to be filled. One of my neighbours in Youghal could well be forced to take up a position with Cork County Council in Bantry, which is a total round trip of 262 km and a three-hour journey. The extra €20 would go nowhere to cover travel costs. In fact, a person would be far poorer on one of these Gateway placements.

Sinn Féin calls on the Government to abandon the Gateway scheme and instead adopt activation programmes that are based on the principle of equal pay for equal work. We welcome the passing of a Sinn Féin motion in Donegal which commits Donegal County Council to not using Gateway placements. Gateway does not provide for brighter futures for those who are unemployed. It does not include training or education mechanisms and as such does not enhance the employability of participants. This reality is sharpened by the fact that local authorities cannot provide sustainable employment opportunities owing to the public sector recruitment embargo.

The progressive, sustainable alternative would be to adopt an activation programme that has training and education at its core and which genuinely seeks to enhance the employability of participants. Sinn Féin believes that job creation must be the centre of our economic recovery. To do this, we propose to ring-fence the money raised from the wealth tax to ensure every young person in the State can avail of a job or a training place. Sinn Féin proposes what amounts to a stimulus of approximately €10 billion to be spent over three years. This would help to create in the region of 100,000 jobs, based on Government estimates of between 8,000 and 10,000 jobs created for each €1 billion invested. In addition, we would make no further cuts to capital expenditure.

Sinn Féin is calling on the Government not only to abandon the Gateway scheme, but also to abandon the mode of thinking that has produced a series of programmes which has ultimately led to the persecution of unemployed people in this State. Gateway is nothing more than State-sanctioned slave labour. It is a product of a Government that wants to massage the unemployment figures to suit its own political and ideological goal. The Government want to use the recession and high unemployment to drive down wages and reverse any gains made by the trade union movement in the State. I urge Government Deputies, in particular Labour Party Deputies, to think long and hard before they vote here tonight. I urge them to support our motion and get focused on real job creation.

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