Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)

I agree entirely with the Minister of State. We do not want to see people's work being prolonged on a CE scheme. However, these are very different people. They have a real need and hunger to be part of a community and sending them back in to communities where there is no work is not good. Even if it were only a matter of extending those schemes for a further five years we could give people a proper chance to get back where they should be. We send them out into a workforce where thousands of people are unemployed, including people leaving college with degrees. What hope have these people got if they are sent away from a three-year scheme?

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