Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is part of the problem. There is no one Minister with an overarching role for in respect of community development. Anywhere we go, we hear about the deep concern regarding job recruitment and retention. The simple fact, however, is that funding provided for salaries in the community development sector simply do not match what the State, through local authorities and the HSE, is offering. According to a report, a community organisation seeking funding to retain a highly skilled worker found that doing so was not worth the effort because it could not match the €15,000 gap in what was being offered. Another report states that the salary gap between the amount community development projects have been funded for community workers and what the State is offering is between 12% and 14%. That is unsustainable for projects. There are reports that there are approximately 1,000 unfulfilled community sector jobs at the moment. If this is not sorted out and pay parity is not achieved, there will be no community development organisations.

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