Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)

The Minister is aware that the community platform represents 25 participant organisations including, Age Action Ireland, the Community Action Network, the Community Workers Co-operative, the Forum of People with Disabilities. As the Minister stated, the community platform was set up in 1996 to enable participation in social partnership negotiations at national level. Why would it state in its mid-term review that apart from the pay deal part of Sustaining Progress, it has little connection with real people facing real disadvantage, exclusion or poverty? Is it not a most serious evaluation and indictment of the process that people would feel excluded?

The community platform participated in the social partnership agreements since 2000 but neither it nor the National Women's Council of Ireland endorsed Sustaining Progress because they said it displayed the refusal of Government to engage in addressing anti-poverty or equality issues. Is the Government concerned about the impact and thrust of this evaluation?

Let us take the example of the Community Workers Co-operative, from which the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, removed all core funding. Surely this action suggests that the Government is not that interested in giving disadvantaged people a key role in the area of citizenship decision making? By withdrawing that funding the Government showed scant regard for what was portrayed as a sincerely held policy. It would appear that anybody who gives any critical evaluation of the social partnership model is ruled out for funding by the Government. Does the Minister accept this is a short-sighted and possibly cynical approach on the part of the Government? Anybody who appears not to share the 'hallelujah' mode of social partnership is effectively ruled out of the process. They perceive themselves to be at the butt end of the big stick from Government. Some of the social partners might not like me saying this. I refer to the groups who appear to dominate the stage to the exclusion of people who make a difference at the level at which they operate and who want to participate and make positive and constructive contributions to this important debate.

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