Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for selecting this item concerning the future of the job initiative scheme, which has less than 1,450 participants throughout the country. I was directly associated with the creation of the scheme in 1996. In 2004, the then Minister decided that no new entrants should be admitted to the scheme from that date. However, the economic environment has changed completely since 2004. The scheme, as we devised it in 1996, was designed to provide full-time employment for people aged 35 or over and who had been unemployed for five years or more.

In the approximately 12 years the job initiative programme has been in existence, it has provided meaningful work for a few thousand people who otherwise might have been left on the dole queues. More importantly, these people have done immensely valuable work in their own communities that might otherwise have not been done. If the Tánaiste was now to dismantle the scheme, she would be dismantling the essential infrastructure that supports the community sector in dozens of locations throughout the country.

In my constituency there are six job initiative projects, providing full-time employment to 103 people. These people are involved in a myriad of services essential to the community, for example after-school care, breakfast clubs, homework clubs and gardening and security services. The job initiative projects provide jobs in the social economy in administration and maintenance. The areas supported by these workers are community centres, creches, enterprise centres and parish properties. Imagine the damage that would be done to the social fabric of a struggling community if the Minister was to pull the plug on these projects.

These workers have now acquired rights. The communities they serve have grown to rely on the services they provide. Together they have made a world of difference in their own communities. I am not sure the powers that be have much of an appreciation of the nature of community development or community action. I do not believe that top-level decision makers generally appreciate the value of the work done in such communities nor have they attempted a cost benefit analysis of such services compared to the cost to the Exchequer if these services were not provided in the community by the community.

I cannot claim that the job initiative scheme has evolved exactly as was envisaged when we launched it in 1996. However, one of the most gratifying things for me is to observe how the programme has enabled participants who otherwise would have no opportunity to become involved in education to achieve diplomas, degrees, FETAC qualifications and certificates. It would be folly for the Government to butcher the job initiative scheme. In the medium term it will cost the Exchequer more to cope with the fallout if the good work undertaken by these projects is undermined. I hope the Tánaiste will be able to assure participants that their jobs are secure and that she will be able to assure the communities reliant on the job initiative scheme that they will not be deprived of the valuable services that they enjoy as a result of the scheme.

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