Cuts to jobs scheme under fire
The Government plans to reduce the number of long-term unemployed on Community Employment (CE) schemes by 5,000 to 20,000 this year.
Since a major review of the schemes, which are managed by FÁS, the number of participants has been slashed from 30,000 last year.
However, the Irish National Organisation for the Unemployed said this policy should be reconsidered because the schemes give people vital opportunities to get back into the jobs market.
“There have been thousands of job losses in the past year, particularly in traditional manufacturing sectors whose workers often find it hard to regain employment,” said Irish National Organisation for the Unemployed general secretary Eric Conroy.
“This is likely to lead to further increases in the numbers of long-term unemployed, so there should be greater investment in initiatives like CE to help them get back to work,” he said.
The downward trend in numbers out of work more than 12 months has been reversed recently, largely due to a number of major closures since 2001. The number of long-term unemployed currently stands at about 25,000 people, roughly 1.3% of the labour force.
The Government is believed to favour further CE place cutbacks after this year, but Mr Conroy said it should be doing the opposite. “We would like a reassurance that the numbers won’t drop below 20,000 and that they might even be increased,” Mr Conroy said.
The effects of the CE cuts are also being felt by community organisations around the country, which have
benefited enormously from the work provided by participants.
A spokesperson for Tánaiste Mary Harney’s Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment said a number of reviews of the scheme are taking place.
These are likely to strongly influence government policy on the future scale and type of CE activity, but no decisions will be made for another few months at least.
FÁS is conducting an internal review, which will include an assessment of the CE scheme’s role from both a labour market perspective and that of providing for community services.
A number of Government departments are also considering options for the future of the scheme, also taking the community benefits into account.
