It is seldom, having read a report, I agree with the sentiments expressed by its authors. People enter politics for various reasons and one of the key reasons I am in politics is to work to achieve a pluralist, fair and honest society in which everybody has equal opportunities. Citizens should be entitled to the opportunity of employment. To be deprived of this opportunity is to condemn the citizen and their family to a life that is unfulfilling. Life on the dole is not what we wish for any of our citizens.
I give full recognition to report No. 4 of the National Economic and Social Forum which was debated before I was re-elected to the Dáil. Much work was put into that report entitled Ending Long-Term Unemployment and the task force was established as a result of that report. I am a member of a Government party and it is important that I, my party and our partners in Government deal with the problem of unemployment in order to bring real meaning to these people's lives and give them their due entitlements. I am delighted to be part of a Government of renewal in whose programme there is a commitment to adopt new approaches to resolve the sad and endemic problem of long term unemployment. I pay tribute to all involved in the preparation of this report.
I represent the constituency of Dublin South Central, which is mainly working class, with huge housing estates in Crumlin, Walkinstown and Drimnagh. The Templeogue district is slightly more affluent, an area in which civil servants and teachers reside. In some areas of the inner city part of the constituency there is 85 to 90 per cent unemployment. From my work as a politician I have great insight into the lives of people and I am not happy with the standard of living of many of my constituents. I hope the Government will work to raise the standard of living of these people.
One may wonder why there is such high unemployment in certain parts of the country and no doubt there are different reasons. It is important to look at some of the communities that have been devastated by unemployment. There is a common thread running through communities that have been devastated by unemployment. In Sheriff Street in the north inner city people experience the difficulties that result from long term unemployment. That problem did not exist in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s because Sheriff Street is near Dublin Port which was a major employer of labour from the locality. In the south inner city in those days motor cars were assembled in the Brittan Plant on the Grand Canal, Donnelly's factory in Cork Street provided substantial employment and Keeffes, the knackers — which would not be allowed to operate today — produced glue and also gave substantial employment. There was also a very lively and labour intensive rag trade. When one compares what happened to the communities in and around Sheriff Street on the north side and Cork Street on the south side one notes that these communities enjoyed high employment from local indigenous companies but the changes in the methods of production and in transporting goods from one country to another resulted in what we have inherited today, unacceptably large numbers of people without employment.
In some of these areas unemployment is endemic, there are families where the father and mother never worked whose children are experiencing the same difficulty in gaining access to the workforce. The report before us tries to address these problems: it highlights the long term unemployed, the partnership areas, which are the disadvantaged areas and the programme which will be put in place in those areas. We must address ways of creating employment in communities where employment existed in the past. To highlight the evil in the past is to highlight the sad reality of life in these communities.
Drug abuse is rampant in the inner city portion of my constituency of Dublin South Central. I am a politician, not a sociologist, and to be unemployed does not necessarily mean that you will be a robber or a drug addict. However, in communities where there is almost nothing but unemployment the depression, hopelessness, alienation and marginalisation of these communities leads some, sadly, into drug addiction. As a consequence the community becomes more and more a victim of circumstances. As politicians we have no way of going back to the old days, we can only go forward. In parts of my constitutency morale is so low it cannot go any lower and the political task for us in addressing the task force on long term unemployment is to raise communities off their knees and to bring them back into the mainstream. Depressing as the scenario is in parts of my constituency and other areas it is important to point out that there is still a very vibrant and important lifeline for politicians in how we structure our response to this crisis in the communities. Even in communities suffering from crime, vandalism and poverty there are incredible people ready to work with those agencies of the State who will provide a helping hand. We must grasp this nettle to give those communities the support they need to raise themselves above their present level.
Very often I am criticised for being an atheist and someone who has no faith in anything except what tomorrow brings but it is impressive to work alongside the Little Sisters of the Assumption in Cork Street. It is worth recording that those at the coal-face giving hope to people who sometimes feel that there is none are very often nuns, priests and Christian Brothers who have adapted to local conditions and work and live, eat and suffer with people in inner city flat complexes and have nothing in their lives except this burning commitment to their religious vocation to try to raise the quality of life for many of these people who are out of work and whose prospects are dim.
My first political experience of the response to a social crisis was in the South Brown Street family centre, a centre run by nuns. They were ahead of the posse in their thinking and their family centre worked miracles with its clients. I saw the effect of programmes on women from the most disadvantaged areas who would have been intimidated by a politician, who would not have looked a politician in the eye. Self-development courses help women to gain self-confidence. They give people hope for the future. The Mother McAuley Centre in Drimnagh, which is partly funded by CROSSCARE, is doing excellent work. The number of women participating in adult education courses and schemes is admirable. There are voluntary agencies in Bluebell and Rialto which are complemented by the statutory agencies. One body which has led the way in original thinking is the City of Dublin vocational education committee. Pearse College on Clogher Road has done marvellous outreach work in disadvantaged communities. As a result people are better prepared to seek employment.
There is no point in reading the contents of the report on to the record. The Government must bite the bullet and implement the recommendations in the report. EU funding will not last forever. The Minister must look carefully at the monitoring system which will be put in place. While thousands of people were probably gainfully employed in community employment schemes and SES schemes in the past, sadly I witnessed some schemes which did not do anything except waste people's time, effort and energy.
I come from a working class family where unemployment was not a problem. I spent three years in Africa and on my return to Ireland I was unemployed for a short period. During that time, I had the experience of drawing the dole in Werburgh Street Exchange. We all learn from our experiences. My experience hardened, honed and prepared me as a politician and I say to the House that this report must be implemented. We must go forward and break the cycle of poverty which is linked to the long term unemployment crisis which confronts us. We must start tackling the problem in a serious way and help those huge sectors in society who are in a poverty trap due to their inability to obtain employment.
