Jobs centre pleads with unions for help after Fás fund cuts

A jobs centre in Cork City which lost Fás funding has appealed to a trade union umbrella group for emergency funding to help it stay open.

The Cork Employment Resource Centre, which lost its Fás funding in December, has written to the Cork Council of Trade Unions, seeking a “once-off cash injection” of €20,000 from CCTU affiliates.

The centre, which operates under the auspices of the CCTU, has called on the union body to ensure that €60,000 it claims is owed to it by Fás is paid immediately.

And it has appealed to the CCTU to ask its members for a weekly donation of €1 per member per week to fund the centre on an ongoing basis.

“We hope and trust that the CCTU, the centre’s sponsors, will see their duty to the unemployed of Cork City and county and accept our proposal, which would place the centre’s finances on a secure footing for the future,” a spokesperson for the resource centre said.

Fás withdrew its funding of the resource centre on December 31 after a review of its operations raised concerns.

The centre’s management team has defended its handling of the facility and has asked Fás to release details of the report so they can be challenged.

However, Fás has not yet released the report.

Despite the withdrawal of funding, volunteers including former staff have been providing a limited range of services from the centre since January 3 on reduced hours.

The centre is meeting its day-to-day expenses thanks to donations from clients and the general public.

The centre was run by a core team of eight workers, including three social welfare advisers, backed by a team of up to 20 volunteers.

They dealt with about 200 clients a week.