Citywide, the community anti-drugs network , has drawn up an eight point action plan to help tackle what it sees as a worsening drugs crisis nationally.
Speaking at a meeting in Liberty Hall, Dublin,to renew the approach taken by Citywide, Joan Byrne called on agencies and community organisations to renew the vision and approach which has been undermined by a succession of funding cuts and marginalisation of the community voice over a number of years.
Citywide chairperson, Anna Quigley, said many of the proposed cuts to CE schemes dealing with the drugs issue ‘defied rationality’ and called for an immediate re-think by government on this.
The eight point plan by Citywide also includes for the first time a call for a wide-ranging debate on the issue of decriminalisation.
Disproportionate and unfair cuts targeted at the community sector since 2008 will result in a 35% shrinkage of the sector by 2013. This is one of the main findings of a new report published by ICTU.
The report by Brian Harvey tracks cuts to community sector organisations and services since 2008 by various government departments.David Connolly, ICTU community sector committee, said the effect of the cuts was a serious weakening of community based services in the most disadvantaged areas.
There seems to be concerted effort in the corridors of power (wherever they are these days) to rubbish Community Employment and label it a waste of taxpayers money that should really be going to the Troika (oops, I let it slip there!). Well let’s just re-state a few home truths before the spinmasters have us all believing that we all we really need is boost of labour market activation to make us feel human again!
First- The reason why we have Community Employment in the first place is to obscure the fact that everyone didn’t benefit from the Celtic Tiger days and that residual long-term unemployment was covered up by taking people off the live register and placing them in part-time employment, usually with the community and voluntary sector.
Second- Community Employment is only partly a labour activation measure- a fact successive governments and civil servants were happy to admit.The other important function is to allow community and voluntary organisations to provide vital local services-wait for it-on the cheap.
Third-Community Employment has been built up over twenty years to include an important training budget which allows long-term unemployed people to overcome the historically negative influences of the education system(like literacy for example) . People progress and get jobs from CE.It takes time,attention and effort and that’s the crucial input from the community and voluntary sector.
Fourth- Community Employment underpins the community and voluntary sector as a vital part of civil society and that’s important in itself. Why? Because believe it or not a lot of people have lost faith in the political system to provide solutions to social problems.A vibrant civil society allows people to participate, innovate and develop their own solutions.If Ireland is going to get out of the mess we’re in then we need all the creative energy of ordinary people.
Now, I’ve gotten that off my chest I can go back and try and figure out why the disability activation project is all about cutting disability benefit!
Despite all the gloom, people in communities are getting together to create jobs and regenerate communities.The latest initiative is a coming together of people and groups involved in local enterprise, social enterprise and community development to develop a national grouping that will offer practical supports, networking and information.The group is called ‘Communities Creating Jobs’ (does what it says on the tin) and it’s early days yet but it has great potential. For more information visit http://communitiescreatingjobs.webs.com/
The Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, has circulated a letter issued by Department Assistant Secretary, Oliver Egan, which refers to the review of financial resources of individual CE schemes now underway. With reference to the significant funding cut applied in the December budget the letter states
“The baseline amount of grant remains the €500 per participant announced in the Budget. But there is discretion to make an amount of up to €1,000 per participant available to schemes in respect of the training and materials grant this year, subject to individual schemes providing a clear and transparent demonstration of need for this level of funding. The onus is on sponsors to make the case for the appropriate level of the grant for their individual scheme.”
This is a welcome clarification from the Minister and should help to allay some of the extreme anxiety that was created at a local level by the initial announcement of the cut.
However the fundamental problems presented by the cut are a long way from resolution. Firstly, because the overall intention to reduce the budget has not gone away and secondly, the policy review of CE, primarily in the context of its function as a labour market activation programme, is too narrowly focused and will result in a distorted outcome. It is vital that all those directly involved in CE; sponsors; supervisors/workers and their unions cooperate together to protect and sustain the proven value of this programme at a community level.
A high level delegation from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions led by David Begg, met with Minister Joan Burton on 17 January to address the serious crisis in the Community Employment Programme arising from the severe funding cuts in the December budget. The CE programme involves over 22,000 part time workers and 1700 full time supervisors.
The Minister assured the Union delegation that no local services will close as a result of the cut, pending an urgent financial review in the first quarter. A major review of Active Labour Market programmes, including CE, has commenced. It was agreed that the ICTU Community Sector committee will be involved in setting the terms of reference for this review and also in monitoring the actual review process and outcomes. The Minister proposed that a small group comprised of Union representatives and senior Department officials should meet immediately to address these issues.
Community Development projects deliver a range of initiatives in disadvantaged communities. Over a four-year period from 2008 and 2011 the effects of the cutbacks in successive budgets have been cumulative and severe. They have affected the capacity and ability of these projects to respond to the greatly increased level of demand within the communities they work with. Below are the seven deadly sins of the cutbacks;
Supports for voluntary and community organisations was reduced by 48 per cent
Local and Community Development Programme is down by 25 per cent
Drugs Initiative programme has fallen by 24 per cent
Family Support Agency budget, which funds the local Family Resource Centres, is down by 12 per cent.
During this period 180 Community Development projects have been closed, with the staff transferred to local development companies.
RAPID programme for disadvantaged urban areas has seen investment reduced by 67 per cent.
The CLAR programme for disadvantaged rural areas has been wound down.
One of the possible effects of the TUS programme(introduced by Eamon OCuiv in the previous Fianna Fail government) will be to produce a ‘yellow-pack’ version of Community Employment.
The TUS programme has no training allocation and the unemployed, who are obliged to participate when referred by the Department of Social Protection, receive only a top up of €20 on their social welfare payments.
The 2012 Budget allocation for the TUS programme is increased from €30 million to €84 million. In the same budget the allocation for Community Employment fell from€356million to €315million. The Back to Education Allowance has also been reduced from €198 million to €183 million.
In the previous 1980s recession the Coalition Government expanded the Community Employment programme to over 40,000 places for the unemployed and the Whole time Jobs Initiative and Social Economy programme created a further 5,000 full time jobs for the long term unemployed.
The real crisis in the economy is one of jobs rather than the sinking hole of public debt that the citizens are not responsible for. We need an expansion of quality initiatives such as Community Employment which includes training
This is the radical approach that should be adopted now. The allocation by Minister Howlin of €20 million for a new training scheme for 6,500 long term unemployed people should be considered as the first step in this direction.
Budget cuts announced by Brendan Howlin in the recent budget include a further significant reduction in funding for local youth services. City of Dublin, Youth Services Board has informed their fifty four projects across the city that funding cuts of 10 to 15 per cent will be necessary for 2012.
This is the third year of significant cuts being imposed. Over the four years from 2008 to 2011 the Government allocation for Youth projects has been reduced by 18 per cent, from €43.6 million to €35.8million.
Minister Phil Hogan- 'daunted by complex structures'
Senator Trevor OClochartaigh queried Environment Minister Phil Hogan if there was any evidence that the ‘alignment’ and ‘cohesion’ process which will see local community development projects disappear into local authorities(via the local development companies), had produced any real efficiences and better services? Minister Hogan was not in a position to reply and said he would ‘come back to the senator’
The exchange took part as part of a Seanad (yes, it’s still there) debate on the Community and Voluntary sector which also heard the Minsiter admit that ‘the sheer scale and complexity of current structures was still daunting and his aim was to unravel its complexity’.
In the same debate Senator Jillian van Turnhout pointed out that ‘gaping holes had been created by the funding crisis and organisations moved from place to place to fill the vacuum of a non-existent funding policy.
So it seems that after years of internal and external reviews, drafting in the international experts from the Centre for Effective Services and cutting budgets year on year, the Minister (and I presume his officals) are baffled and overwhelmed by the complexity of structures! Anything in there about what the programmes are actually expected to achieve?About the target groups they are supposed to reach? Not a peep, I reckon.Instead it seems we are treated to an administrative excercise designed to…well…save money and be administrative.I would suggest that the whole excercise has actually increased inefficiencies and lessened effectiveness and wasted valuable public resources.The simple fact is that disadvantaged communities need well run local community owned projects to deliver services and act as an innovative and dynamic resource to the local communities. Not more administrative three-card tricks!
