Communities To Protest “Slash and Burn” Policies of Government

Thousands of Community Sector workers will play a leading role in this Saturday’s Anti-Austerity March in Dublin. SIPTU’s Communities Against Cuts campaign is mobilising workers from right across the Community sector which has seen cuts of between 35 and 50% in core funding to vital services such as childcare, disability, mental health, youth and environmental work.

Community Employment (CE) Schemes and Local Community Development Partnership Companies (LCDP’s) have been particularly badly hit with many companies struggling to survive.

According to SIPTU’s Community Campaign Co-ordinator Darragh O’Connor  “ LCDP’s created over 6000 new jobs in 2011 at a cost of just €5000 per job  compared to a cost of over €12000 for each job created by Enterprise Ireland. How can it make sense to have their budgets cut again? Many childcare CE projects are on the point of collapse because of changes made to entitlements for lone parents. A continuance of this “slash and burn” approach in this next budget will bring about the closure of many of these companies along with the loss of vital community services.”

Elaine Harvey from the Galway City Partnership explained “We are organising through SIPTU to defend our jobs and our services. On Saturday we will send a strong message to government-if you continue to cut our funding, our communities will take the fight directly to the doorsteps of the politicians who vote for these cuts. There will be no hiding place.”

The Communities Against Cuts Campaign is one of the four main organisations behind Saturdays march alongside The Dublin Council of Trade Unions, The Spectacle of Defiance and Hope and the Campaign against Household and Water Taxes. Marchers will assemble at Parnell Square from 1pm this Saturday 24^th November.