It is good to see the overwhelming vote in favour of retaining the benchmarking agreement. It would have been a disgrace to have done otherwise. I hope the message goes out to IBEC, which was reported in newspapers yesterday as stating that it wanted an end to the benchmarking process and non-payment by the Government and also 10,000 jobs cut in the public sector this year. I hope IBEC got the message on benchmarking and that a similar message goes out to it regarding its request for a cut of 10,000 jobs in the public sector.
My Adjournment matter relates to an issue that is causing fear among the most vulnerable communities where people have poor employment opportunities, there is endemic disadvantage and, in general, the Celtic tiger passed people by. The community employment scheme was established in the mid-1980s by Deputy Quinn, who at the time was Minister for Labour as it was known, to provide part-time work for those who needed to re-enter the workplace and were in long-term unemployment. It was especially valuable for women and single parents to re-enter the workforce and to allow work to be done in the community that would not otherwise be done. In the mid-1990s, Deputy Rabbitte introduced the jobs initiative which was aimed at people over the age of 35 who had been unemployed for four to five years and whose prospects of employment were slim. The purpose was to provide them with employment and some dignity while allowing valuable work to be done in the community that would not otherwise be done. Since then an enormous amount of valuable work has been done in areas with high crime levels and unemployment and poor child care in terms of after school, meals on wheels and senior citizens services and various forms of community maintenance and so forth were required. All these services provided an improved quality of life.
Since 1998, however, a period of just five years, the number of people in community employment has decreased by half, from 40,000 to 20,000. The schemes have been devastated by this rapid reduction in numbers, which has caused significant trauma and hardship to individuals and considerable damage to the services they were providing. A whole range of services throughout the State could go under if another savage series of cutbacks proceeds. It appears the first tranche of the latest cutbacks is due to begin on 17 October, as letters to that effect have emanated from FÁS. Some 5,000 jobs are at stake in the community employment scheme and the job initiative.
In my area of the north inner city, which is in the Taoiseach's constituency, jobs and services are under threat in all the disadvantaged communities – most of the communities in the area – whether in the community employment schemes or the job initiative. I would list all the schemes if we had time. They include the Sean McDermott Street senior citizens' day care centre, the after care service in Liberty House, East Wall meals on wheel's and day care centre, the markets area residents' organisations and a plethora of other schemes funded through the programmes. The Capuchin day centre in Bow Street, which provides 400 meals daily, is threatened with a 60% loss in staff from 17 October onwards, which would mean the Capuchins would no longer be able to provide a service they have provided for a century.
It would be a shame if we lost the current part-time and full-time employment opportunities available through the community employment and job initiative programmes, not only in terms of the job opportunities for the people affected but also in terms of the services they provide. Will the Minister offer us some hope that this is not the approach he proposes to take and that he will at least preserve the current level of services and employment?
