Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

I thank the Minister for taking this matter. Since the budget, people on community employment, CE, schemes have been terrified that their schemes will end. A total of 22,500 people around the country are carrying out valuable work for our communities and they are fearful about what may happen to them. My constituency has schemes such as the Darndale Belcamp Village Centre, Kilbarrack Coast Community Programme and Howth Sutton Community Council. The groups of companies I am most familiar with, because I have been a director of them for more than 25 years, are the Northside Centre for the Unemployed, the Glin Centre, Coolock and Coolock Development Council, which is on a community campus on Bunratty Drive. If the cut of €1,000 per worker for training and materials goes ahead, we will lose €120,000. It will be devastating and it will be a disaster for these groups of companies. The money has primarily been used for progression-based training courses in the past, including construction, welding, elder care, child care, landscaping, food and hygiene, occupational first aid, ECDL, office skills and so on going up to FETAC level 5. It will be disastrous for our training programmes if the Minister's review does not reconsider this cut urgently.

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