BUDGET CUTS WILL SHUT COMMUNITY EMPLOYMENT SCHEMES, CLOSE LOCAL RESOURCE CENTRES

7 Dec 2011

The cuts to Community Employment Schemes (CES) announced in Budget 2012 will close schemes across the country and see local resource centres that assist thousands of people forced to close their doors for good.
According to Sylvia Ryan - Coordinator of the Congress Centres' Network - proposed cuts to the material and training grant for CE schemes "could close many schemes around the country. Schemes are sponsored by voluntary boards of management and running costs are covered from within the materials and training budget. The cuts mean that sponsoring a CE scheme may no longer be viable," she said.
She said the network of 24 Congress Resource Centres in towns around the country could also see closures as a result of the cuts. The Centres - which are run with support from FAS - provide advice on social welfare and work-related issues, along with training programmes to some 500,000 people every year.
They also house many community and voluntary services that could also be forced to cease operating in the event of closures.
There are some 22,000 people currently availing of Community Employment Schemes. Training is provided to assist with basic skills and upskilling. CE participants also assist with provision of key services for the unemployed and families.
The 24 Congress Centres for the Unemployed were established in 1984 in collaboration with FAS.

Note Pat Kelleher of the Longford Education Development Information Centre and Margaret Fitzpatrick of the Dublin 12 Centre will participate in the Congress Post Budget Media Briefing on Thursday, December 8, at 2.30pm in Congress House, Dublin. Mr Kelleher featured on RTE's coverage of Budget 2012 and said the cuts "placed question marks over the continued presence of the (Longford) Centre."

(Clip available on RTE Player, at 1hr, 33 mins http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=1125517)