Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)

I wish to raise the perceived threat of cuts to community employment schemes and job initiative schemes in Clondalkin in the forthcoming budget. Along with other public representatives I recently attended a meeting in the Clondalkin, Education & Employment Development Services, CEEDS, centre in north Clondalkin. It is based in Áras Rualach.

A number of people were present who were representing the various schemes. Community employment and job initiative workers informed me, local representatives and Oireachtas Members from the constituency about the good work they do. The centre itself is an example of the valuable work that is done. CEEDS runs the local training initiative in north Clondalkin. I am familiar with the centre for many years. It has come on in leaps and bounds in terms of improved delivery of courses. I brought some of the groups into the Oireachtas. It is heartening to see how the course participants develop. At a recent graduation class people were talking about going on to do nursing and join the Garda Reserve. Most of those people would have left school without any qualifications. CEEDS gives them the opportunity of getting the equivalent of the leaving certificate through FETAC qualifications. CEEDS employs community employment workers, many of whom were previous attendees of the local training initiative. Some course participants come from disadvantaged backgrounds. On some schemes, people might have formerly had problems with addiction and other issues. There is a view that community employment and job initiative schemes do not offer much to society but in Clondalkin they do good for the community and provide important services while offering employment opportunities to people who might not be able to re-enter the workplace otherwise.

When I visited in September, I was given some letters by people on the schemes. One person wrote that if her job initiative was cut, it would have a devastating effect on her, her family and her community. She has written, "The job initiative scheme has given me the strength and confidence to move on with my life and out into the community, where I am at my best working with young people and their parents, giving them confidence to achieve for the themselves the education that is there right". Another letter from one of the JI workers made the point that if these schemes were cut, the effects would be felt in Clondalkin because so many people there are on jobs initiative and community employment schemes in the area.

There are 50 job initiative employees working for many of the local community and voluntary organisations, helping them to provide a good service in Clondalkin. The Neilstown Parish Social Action Group employs workers under these schemes, providing support to local national schools, the St. Vincent de Paul charity shop and the Beacon of Light counselling service among others. Disadvantaged areas have come on in leaps and bounds in recent years and it would be terrible if the Government now made the mistake of cutting back on such schemes because it will have devastating effect on the local community and the people employed on them.

I worked on such a social employment scheme when I left college in the 1980s, the equivalent of a community employment scheme. It is better to be employed than not employed and although the salary may not be much more than what people would get on social welfare, people want to work for the community and enjoy it.

In recent years, the criteria for people who can work on such schemes have been narrowed and often it is those who come through the national rehabilitation service and those who have come through drug addiction support who need a place on such schemes. These schemes are worthwhile and with unemployment rising, we should increase them. I ask the Minister of State to maintain present numbers at the very least.

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