Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is not enough detail available on the scheme so it is difficult to question the Minister. A key question concerns why an existing scheme, such as the community employment scheme, Tús or even JobBridge, is not used. Does the Minister intend to use the proposed local authority scheme to undermine craft workers and their rates? I refer to electricians or bricklayers who have been unemployed for a long time and who may be going to a local authority to do some type of work. If the Minister does not intend to do what I have outlined, I cannot see how she can separate the work from that which already exists for workers in the local authority. Why not employ the staff directly? Is the Minister proposing a kind of chain gang of unemployed people who will be sent out to clean the street or sewers or cut the grass? In the past, this kind of work was carried out by direct labour employed by the local authorities. Over the years, local authority numbers have been reduced. While the Minister is still thinking about the new programme, will she take my point on board?

It is not only a question of allowing for work experience, as training needs to be made available also. There needs to be payment in recognition of the fact that one is working. We must ensure we take into account the training that is not available under Tús, for example. Tús, unlike the community employment scheme, does not have a training budget. In JobBridge, at least, one is placed in a work environment where it may be possible to get specific additional training from the employer. In the case of the proposed programme, the local authority should have to provide the required additional training, be it computer training or otherwise.

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