Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The question to which we want to know the answer is whether the funding for CE schemes will be maintained this year. It was slashed last year, as the Minister is aware, and she is telling us that has not made any difference. A good deal of money must have been wasted on CE schemes in the preceding years because, as I recall, the cut last year was significant, yet she is telling us it made no difference. I am informed by people in the Limerick region that the operations budget allows insurance costs of €50 per person, which adds up to €850 for 17 people. That is grossly inadequate, and the sponsors must come up with the balance, which in many cases they cannot do. I am also informed that in the Limerick region the training budget, which can only be used for accredited training, is approximately €250 per individual. One would get very little training for €250. The people on the ground tell me the life is literally being squeezed out of the system and the situation has deteriorated markedly as a result of last year's cuts. Is the Minister conscious of the situation on the ground? Will she agree that these cuts are something of a false economy, because many of the services that will be squeezed out of existence as a result of these cuts will have to be taken up by the State for a far higher price?

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