David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was at the protest yesterday outside the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government in support of all the community workers about which Senator Hayden spoke. She is correct regarding all the issues she raised. There are real concerns over the realignment process, the future of jobs in the sector and the erosion and undermining of the bottom-up approach to community development, not only by the current Government but also by the previous one.

All of this came from the Putting People First legislation that the former Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, dealt with in this Seanad. The Labour Party supported it. We tabled a series of amendments on all these issues.