Seanad debates

Wednesday, 18 December 2002

Social Welfare Bill, 2002: Second Stage.

 

I am worried that some people do not place any value on community employment schemes. They are a great engine of community activism and they have provided some people with a role in society which has been properly remunerated. The community employment schemes have provided an essential service. They have helped clubs and voluntary organisations and assisted people to find work. I am worried that the schemes will be cut by 5,000 this year and by the same amount next year. We should not do that, particularly given that the country is not doing as well as it was three or four years ago. It would be better to retain those valuable schemes, particularly as the people who benefited from them might not find employment in other areas.

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