Tuesday 21 February 2012

ICTU Study: "Downsizing the Community Sector"


 Downsizing the Community Sector JPEG

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has criticised spending cuts in the community and voluntary sector as “short-sighted and ultimately self-defeating.” 

Launching a new study on the impact of cuts – Downsizing the Community Sector – Congress General Secretary David Begg said it was clear many of the cuts were taking place “below the radar and out of the spotlight. But their impact is enormous. In many communities these cuts are eroding the social fabric, eating away at what binds those communities together,” he said.

The report has been published by the Community Sector Committee of Congress and shows that since the onset of the crisis, the sector has experienced cuts of between 17% and 54%.

This could result in the loss of up to 11,150 jobs, by 2013.

“Not only is this morally wrong, it is also self-defeating as an absence of services at local level doesn’t mean the need for that service goes away, it means people will fall back on the state.

“Equally, there is no social or economic benefit to be had from throwing people out of work when they want to make a contribution to their communities,” he said.

Downsizing the Community Sector by researcher Brian Harvey was launched in Dublin’s Mansion House in the presence of the Lord Mayor.

A full copy of the report is available Downsizing the Community

St. Michael's Estate Regeneration: Call for Support

A letter from Rita Fagan, St. Michael's Estate Regeneration Team


Unfortunately we are here again!  We are writing to you to inform you of an unexpected and disappointing turn of events that has taken place yet again in St.Michael's Estate. 

As you know a two acre section of the site is being used to build 75 units of accommodation, a crèche/community after schools and a local estate office. 

This development was being done by BAM Construction Company and it started on November 2010 and the structure is three quarters finished. However at a meeting last Friday Dublin City Council informed the Local Regeneration Board that it is terminating the contract with the builder on the grounds of health and safety. 

At the moment there is a ten day moratorium. While we cannot condone this we want the two parties to mediate a resolution on this crisis instead of it ending up in the courts. Call in the top mediators/negotiators do whatever it takes to get this back on track.

It is our view that serious mediation needs to take place for this issue to be resolved as quickly as possible. Therefore we are asking for your support for this and for this matter to be dealt at the highest level. 

We are asking supporters to contact Minister Phil Hogan and Minister Jan O' Sullivan and ask for immidiate mediation on this matter.

If you have time and resources could you contact your local T.D.'s. We would appreciate if you could also forward this email to others who might support us.

Again we want to thank you for your continued support in the past but we need you again to get this back on track!

Here are the emails of both Minister Phil Hogan and Jan O’ Sullivan

Regards

Rita Fagan
St. Michael's Estate Regeneration Team

Thursday 16 February 2012

SIPTU Community Campaign joins S.P.A.R.K. to support lone parents

 Press Release: 16th February 2012
 
The SIPTU Community Campaign joined S.P.A.R.K. at a press launch on Thursday (16th February) to highlight the effect of Budget 2012 on lone parents.

The S.P.A.R.K. Campaign (Single Parents Acting for the Right of Kids) is a diverse group of lone parents who have united to protect children from the effects of Budget 2012. Among the wide range of organisations supporting the S.P.A.R.K. Campaign is the SIPTU Community Campaign, OPEN, One Parent and Treoir.

SIPTU Organiser, Paul Hansard, said; “While Budget 2012 affected lone parents in a number of ways, its impact on Community Employment (CE) is of grave concern. Not only have the opportunity for lone parents to avail of work and training through CE been effectively cut off but there will certainly be an impact on the delivery of local services such as community childcare.”  

There are approximately 5,000 lone parents working in CE, providing them with employment and training opportunities. CE also enables lone parents to work in their local communities, providing vital services such as childcare, eldercare, meals on wheels and after school care.

Liz Ryan, a lone parent and CE worker in Dublin, said; “CE has been brilliant for me; it’s given me the chance to work, get training and be active within my community. I don’t know what I would have done without CE or what women in my situation will do in the future.”

Budget 2012 has affected lone parents on CE in a number of ways. New entrants to CE will no longer be entitled to their Single Parent Family Allowance on top of their income from the scheme. In practice, this makes CE a financially unviable option for lone parents as all household expenses, including childcare costs, must come out of this payment.  

From Monday next  (20th February), lone parents currently on CE will see a cut in their child dependent allowance.  For a parent of three children, this will mean a drop in income of €51.90.  

Paul Hansard added; “We are already hearing examples of CE schemes that can no longer recruit lone parents because it has become financially impossible for them to take up a position. This will have a knock-on effect on services like community childcare in the coming months as they struggle to fill positions previously held by lone parents”.

Community Childcare provides high quality childcare in areas of disadvantage at an affordable cost. There are approximately 2,100 CE workers working in this area, many of them are lone parents.

Paul Hansard added; “We are calling on the Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton. to reassess the changes to lone parent payments in light of their impact on community services. Furthermore, we call on Minister of State for Children, Frances Fitzgerald, to ensure that community projects that support children with childcare and after schools services remain viable with well-trained staff.  

Tuesday 14 February 2012

CE Victory: Training & Material increase to €1,000


Thanks to CE supervisors, participants & supporters lobbying local politicians, protesting and organising with their union, the training and materials grant has been increased to €1,000 per participant. 

Below is a letter from Oliver Egan (Department of Social Protection) stating that CE projects can avail of a €1,000 training & materials grant per participant. This payment is discretionary projects need to provide a clear and transparent demonstration of need for the level of funding.  

This correspondence should assist CE projects when negotiating with their local DSP official when determining the 2012 budget.




03 February 2012


Department of Social Protection Review of Community Employment


To: Mary Donnelly, Principal Officer, Policy Unit
       Joe McGuinness, Principal Officer, Operations West, Mid-West & Midlands
       Mary Beggan, Principal Officer, Operations Dublin
       Maria Hurley, Principal Officer, Operations South West & South West
       Anne McGovern, Principal Officer, Operations North West & North East


Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to outline the position in relation to Community Employment (CE) schemes.

The Budget allocation for CE in 2012 is in excess of €315 million, which represents a very significant commitment to the sector.

Following the reductions in the CE training and materials grant announced in the Budget we commenced a review of the financial resources of individual schemes.  To recap:

·         All sponsors have been contacted by Department officers to brief them on the review;
·         Officers have been instructed to meet with all sponsors to discuss their returns and deal with any queries that the sponsors may have;
·         Sponsors have been issued with pro forma returns to assist them to complete the review.  Completed returns will be used by sponsors and the officers responsible for the schemes to undertake the financial review.

It is essential that the review be completed promptly so that schemes can have certainty on their level of funding for 2012 and so that the Department has the time remaining in 2012 to achieve the level of savings agreed in the Budget.  In this context it is very important that schemes and sponsors engage in a meaningful manner with the review process.

As you are aware, there is a considerable amount of variation across CE schemes in relation to the amount of training provided, materials required, overhead costs and the potential for sponsoring organisations to meet certain costs.

In recognition of this, a likely outcome of the review is that schemes will no longer receive a standard grant per participant but rather, will be provided with a specific level of support aimed at meeting their specific costs.  The level of grant sought will have to be justified by the scheme sponsor and will be subject to verification and agreement by the Department on a case by case basis.

The baseline amount of the 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.

While a reduced level of grant for training and materials is unavoidable in 2012, the reduction will vary according to the needs of individual project.  In order to minimise the reduction in the training and materials grant, other means of achieving savings in CE must also be examined urgently:

·         Meeting and funding training needs through other channels;
·         Shared arrangements in respect of common overheads, such as audit and insurance needs.

Separately, the Community Employment Scheme is also included in a policy review of the overall range of employment support, activation and work schemes operated by the Department, to assess their contribution to the Department’s policy objective of supporting people of working age into employment.


Yours sincerely,



Oliver Egan,
Assistant Secretary.

Thursday 9 February 2012

CE Participant Meeting & Welfare Cuts Protest


CE Worker Meeting

In budget 2012, the Government introduced a number of savage cuts to lone parents, including cuts to the OPFA for lone parents on Community Employment (for full details of the cuts please see DSP Note on CE Payments)

To organise against these cuts CE workers are invited to a meeting on:

Tuesday 14th February
2pm
Liberty Hall, Eden Quay


Protests Against Lone Parent Cuts

As part of the campaign to resist cuts SIPTU is working with the SPARK Campaign (www.sparkcampaign.com). A protest is being held to campaign against the severe cuts that were inflicted on lone parents in the recent budget, including with withdrawal of the OPFA payment for lone parents entering CE schemes and the reduction in qualifying age from 14 to 7.

Saturday 18th February
2pm
Garden of Remembrance,
Parnell Square

For more information, please contact

Paul Hansard, SIPTU Organisers
T: (01) 8586364
M: 087 7266022 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            087 7266022      end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Shonagh Byrne, SIPTU Organisers
T: 01- 8586381
M: 087 7454581 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            087 7454581      end_of_the_skype_highlighting