Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 11 Dec 2003

Vol. 577 No. 1

Adjournment Debate. - Community Employment Schemes.

Mr. Gogarty

I am pleased to see the Leas-Cheann Comhairle back in the House so soon. In the past two years, the number of places available on community employment schemes has been reduced by 3,800 to approximately 20,000. The Government will save €135 million by making these reductions. However, no programme has been put in place to secure the future of the services provided by the schemes that have been cut. Consequently, a large number of organisations have been forced to reduce or in many cases terminate services. While a new programme may be introduced in rural areas, in urban areas there has been no indication as to what will happen or what the transition will be like.

The cutbacks in community employment schemes have affected the relatively well-off areas of Lucan, Palmerstown, Saggart, Rathcoole, Brittas and Newcastle, but the worst affected is Clondalkin. Although north Clondalkin is in a RAPID programme area and has well-organised community bases, the chipping away of community employment and jobs initiative schemes is taking its toll. South-west Clondalkin, however, does not have this comfort blanket. There is huge deprivation in a number of areas, yet it was not chosen as a RAPID programme area because it has a high number of private homes. However, in many of these homes the owners are struggling to make a living, while many more are occupied by tenants on rent allowance. The local community employment scheme was a saviour to this area. While these schemes were not set up to provide an alternative social economy or much needed social services, that is what they have ended up doing. In removing them, the Government has ripped the stitch that kept the community lining together and it is now in danger of collapse.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Harney, officially opened the Bawnogue enterprise centre, which operates on a semi-commercial basis promoting local businesses. However, its remit prevents it in assisting a community struggling against years of neglect, criminal elements, the drugs trade and a breakdown in the sense of community. The enterprise centre charges commercial rates for various meetings while the rooms are not the right size for various groupings. The Bawnogue youth and community centre was one of the three community projects supported by the local community employment scheme. There was also the youth and family support group and the DBD advice and information centre, all of which are now facing closure.

The Bawnogue community centre provides a centre to the community in more ways than one. For example, the local children use its tuck shop because they feel safer there than the local shops where drug pushers and addicts hang around. Yet, it is now facing closure. The community groups operating there have seen their staff numbers dwindle to a bare minimum following the cutbacks in the community employment scheme. Though, it is proposed to move some council and other State-supported bodies into the building, the original community services provided are falling apart. These are the services in which people have a sense of pride and self-esteem because they have been built from scratch.

I urge the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Brian Lenihan, to make representations to save the DBD advice and information centre. It is a long way to Clondalkin village for the many people who have come to depend on its services. I also urge him to ensure that the temporary staff loaned from north Clondalkin to the Bawnogue community centre are retained. If the State discontinues funding it will cost it more in the long-term in terms of trying to root out crime, solve the drugs problem and deal with social alienation.

I say this from an economic viewpoint because that is the only argument the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, understands. If the Government wants to keep taxes low and break down the barriers in society, it can only do so by helping to foster thriving communities where people can depend on one another and work together. The community employment schemes have employed people aged over 50 years who were on disability and invalidity allowances, yet but for the valuable work they do on behalf of their communities, they would be only considered for the scrapheap in terms of trying to secure gainful employment. If the new replacement for the schemes is to be introduced, there should be a transition phase run by FÁS so that the existing groups can continue their work. If not, their abolition will cost the State more in the long run and lead to the death of some communities.

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Mr. B. Lenihan)

I thank Deputy Gogarty for raising the important subject of the community employment schemes on the Adjournment. He has illustrated the importance of the schemes in the Dublin Mid-West constituency, which is his duty. I accept he has made a reasonable case. It has also been made vigorously by Deputy Curran. The community employment schemes play a vital role in sustaining local community centre services. Deputy Curran is also anxious about the future of the Bawnogue community centre. Local decisions have to be made in a local context and appropriate decisions on priorities must be made by the centres concerned.

Substantial resources, amounting to €351 million in total, have been allocated in the Estimates for employment programmes for 2004. This funding allocation will support up to 25,000 places across the three employment schemes, namely the community employment, jobs initiative and social economy schemes. The allocation of places to projects within the Clondalkin area is an administrative matter for FÁS. The Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Fahey, wishes to emphasise that this allocation of €351 million is similar to the budgeted amount provided in 2003. There will be no reduction in the total level of provision for the three schemes or in the combined participation levels next year.

The commitment to fund a continuing pool of up to 25,000 places across the three schemes brings clarity, not only to the levels of activity which can be supported, but will also will enable FÁS to give a clear commitment to support local community services over an agreed period of time. FÁS has been given some flexibility in the management of this financial allocation to maximise the progression of participants in the schemes to the labour market while at the same time facilitating the support of community services.

The future emphasis will now be on refocusing the community employment and job initiative programmes in order to improve the outcome for participating clients. The Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, considers that a client-centred approach should be developed within schemes to specifically target the individual needs of clients in order to progress those in long-term unemployment towards gainful employment, as there has not been the desired rate of progress from community employment to the open labour market by participants. This is against a backdrop of unprecedented demand by employers for labour, including semi-skilled and low-skilled. For example, the number of work permits issued by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in 1999 was 6,000. This number has increased steadily over the intervening period to a position where the Department is likely to have issued a record 47,000 permits by the end of 2003.

This an important public issue. The easy abuse of the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, that so readily falls from the lips of Opposition speakers has to be put in the context—

Mr. O'Dowd

What about comments by the Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, on the other side of the House?

Mr. B. Lenihan

—of a Minister who has achieved more than any other in terms of securing a state of full employment for the economy. I know many working in the most disadvantaged parts of the Dublin West constituency who admire the Minister because he has restored the work incentive in our communities. That was fundamental to social improvement. Up to 47,000 work permits have been issued because of a shortage of supply in the labour market. Judgments on community employment have to made in that context. Against this background, it cannot be said that there have been no jobs for those leaving community employment at the end of their period of participation. In view of this, it must be asked if the existing participation arrangements are appropriate and in the best interest of the participants.

Given the degree of dependence on the community employment scheme for delivery of local community services, which has built up over time, major challenges are being posed by the significant reductions in participation levels in recent years. All of us who work with local organisations are well aware of this. The Government must consider its priorities for delivery of services within the reduced but stable pool of participants available. Agencies and voluntary bodies delivering services at local level will clearly have to decide their priorities, since it is clear that all demands cannot be met. It is by no means clear that the existing services that are either ring-fenced or prioritised are yielding the optimal returns in terms of community needs. It is not sufficient simply to look at the volume of activity, one must also look closely at the activities and services being supported by the 25,000 participants involved across the three employment programmes concerned. This is now being done.

With the Estimates allocation for 2004, we now have what has been lacking in recent years – a clear sense of direction as to the future level of CE participation and the level of services that can be provided. This allows the Government to give a form of social guarantee regarding support for service provision. Communities and voluntary groups and agencies can now look forward and plan their future services, in consultation with FÁS, with a much greater degree of certainty as to the potential support from CE.

The main focus of any new or restructured community employment scheme should remain clearly on the long-term unemployed and other disadvantaged groups and in particular on the needs of those who participate for personal development and progression to employment in the open labour market.

The Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, is confident that the new certainty regarding CE participation levels, combined with changes in the structure of the programme and a re-assessment of the existing ring-fenced and prioritised services, along with the Budget Statement of the Minister concerning the rural scheme can bring about better outcomes for both the individual participants and the communities being supported through their activity.