Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

I move:

That Seanad Éireann calls on the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to honour the commitment of the Government in respect of community employment places as outlined in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness; seeks an immediate cessation of any reduction in places pending full consultation with existing schemes; and further calls on the Government to recognise the enormous positive contribution made by the participants to the community employment schemes and to community development generally.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, to the House. Yet again we are seeing this Government attacking the most vulnerable people in our society. It is time to expose the lies that were told at the last general election on the issue of community employment.

This issue affects every county. In the current round of cutbacks in excess of 10,000 community employment jobs could be lost. With recent redundancies and the rising rate of unemployment, there will be even greater pressure on job seekers. It is those who rely on community employment schemes who will find it most difficult to secure permanent jobs.

Community employment schemes provide a unique opportunity for people who lack training or experience to gain vital skills to move into mainstream employment. These schemes reduce dependency on social welfare and provide much needed support for a wide range of social and community projects. We are demanding that the Government abide by its commitment given in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness and resist the temptation to slash these vitally important jobs within the social economy.