Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

On 31 August, the local employment services in Tallaght and Clondalkin were shut down, 39 workers were made redundant and the areas are going to be left with no service for at least two and possibly three months. At the end of that time, the local partnership will attempt to re-employ a reduced number of workers on lower wages and with increased responsibilities. The consequence will be a significant reduction in services. When we attempted to raise this previously, the Government said, “Nothing to do with us” and it is the responsibility of the local partnership. The root of it is the tendering process that the Government insisted all of these partnerships went through. It effectively encouraged a race to the bottom in terms of services, with competition from for-profit providers. Will the Taoiseach instruct the partnership to re-employ all of the workers on existing terms and conditions and will he provide the funding to enable it to do so?

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