General CE Meeting - 8th February - Portlaois

The SIPTU/IMPACT national negotiating committee has arranged a general meeting for CE Supervisors and Assistant Supervisors will be held on Wednesday 8th February, 2.30pm, Heritage Hotel, Portlaois.   

This meeting is open to all members of SIPTU and IMPACT, however non members are encouraged to attend also. 

The agenda will be as follows:

·        CE Supervisors Pension Claim

·        Budget Cuts / Actions to date since Budget

·        Strategy

·        AOB

We cannot overstate the importance of this meeting and ask that every effort is made to attend.

Victory For Aughrim CE Scheme

(Press Release: 23rd January 2012)

SIPTU has welcomed an agreement between the union and the Department of Social Protection which has prevented the closure of the award-winning National Disabled Angling Facility in Aughrim, Co Wicklow.
A deal was reached on Friday (20th January) which will see all 23 jobs retained at the facility run by "Aughrim Tidy Towns Ltd", a not-for-profit company that sponsors a Community Employment (CE) scheme whose participants maintain the project’s four acre lake within an eight acre riverside park.

“It is great news that an agreement has been reached between SIPTU and Department of Social Protection officials which will see this vital facility funded until a national review of CE schemes is completed in late March,” said SIPTU Community Sector Organiser, Eddie Mullins.

“This agreement follows a meeting last week between Minster for Social Protection Joan Burton and a high level Congress delegation, which included General Secretary David Begg and SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor.”

“At that meeting the Minister gave a commitment that no project would close prior to the completion of a review of all CE schemes. I would reiterate the advice following that meeting that any scheme which is in financial difficulty should immediately contact its union representative so discussions can be initiated with the relevant government officials,” Eddie Mullins added.

Minister Burton Gives Commitment on CE funding

PRESS RELEASE (Issued 18th January 2011)

The Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, has given a commitment that no Community Employment (CE) schemes will be forced to close due to funding cutbacks until a full financial review of the sector has been completed.

The commitment was given to a high level ICTU delegation during a meeting with the Minister and Department of Social Protection officials in the Dáil on Tuesday (17th January).

The Congress delegation was led by ICTU General Secretary, David Begg, and included SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor, and IMPACT national secretary Matt Staunton.

ICTU Community Sector Committee chairman, David Connolly, Chairman of the SIPTU CE Supervisors Union Committee, Seamus Briscoe, and SIPTU Community Sector Organiser, Eddie Mullins also attended the afternoon meeting.

Eddie Mullins said; “The Minister said that her officials would undertake an immediate financial review of each CE project, meeting directly with local organisations and discussing any immediate funding difficulties that arise during the first quarter of 2012.

“It is essential that local projects make contact with the relevant government officials to ensure they become involved in this process. Project managers should also bring any funding difficulties to the immediate attention of their trade union representatives. On the issue of a general review of the viability of all CE projects the Minister accepted that trade union input is essential. In light of this the Department of Social Protection will forward on the draft terms of reference of the wider CE review to ICTU in the coming days.”

David Connolly said; “The meeting followed a campaign by trade unionists to highlight the severe adverse impact communities will suffer if the proposed cut-backs to the funding of CE schemes in the recent budget are not reversed.”

“At the meeting the Minister directly heard the concerns that have arisen among CE scheme participants and managers due to the proposed cutbacks. She agreed on immediate actions aimed at introducing stability and calm to the sector.”

Congress delegation to meet Minister Joan Burton to discuss CE scheme crisis

A high level ICTU delegation will meet with the Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, at 4.00 p.m. today (17th January) in Dáil Eireann to discuss the developing crisis in the Community Sector and the government’s proposed review of Community Employment (CE) schemes funding.

The Congress delegation will be led by ICTU General Secretary, David Begg, and will include SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor, and IMPACT national secretary Matt Staunton.

ICTU Community Sector Committee chairman, David Connolly, and Chairman of the SIPTU CE Supervisors Union Committee, Seamus Briscoe, will also be among those attending the talks.

David Connolly said; “This meeting follows a campaign by trade unionists to highlight the severe adverse impact communities will suffer if the proposed cut-backs to the funding of CE schemes funding in the recent budget are not reversed.”

The ICTU delegation will be advising Minister Burton that the full funds necessary to cover CE schemes existing overheads should be made available in order to curtail an immediate crisis which has led to some essential projects ceasing operation. All training programmes should also be maintained until the conclusion of the Government’s review of the CE sector which is to be completed within three months.”

“The ICTU delegation will be seeking the involvement of trade unions in setting the proposed review’s terms of reference and monitoring its outcomes in order to ensure that full account is taken of the beneficial effect of CE schemes within communities as well as their impact on the labour market.”

An Open Letter to Joan Burton on Changes to Community Employment

Dear Joan,

My name is Declan Byrne. I am a Community Employment Supervisor and a Addiction Counsellor with Kilbarrack Coast Community Programme (KCCP), a position I have held since 2000. This programme started in 1997 when the second heroin epidemic took hold in disadvantaged areas throughout Dublin. KCCP began by working with drug users (then primarily heroin users) but soon expanded its services to include parents, siblings and their children. It now also runs Youth Matters a youth service that caters for over one hundred young people every week.

KCCP is funded by the Health Services Executive and FAS. KCCP operates on a cost efficient basis to best International practice. FAS fund the cornerstone of our services the drugs rehabilitation Community Employment programme, which caters for nineteen adult drug misusers. Proposed changes in the last budget threatened the existence of this programme but after intense public pressure including it being aired on your show the Minister Joan Burton announced that there would be no changes pending a review. On Friday the 13th January I was informed that two of these changes come into force on Monday 16th January - so much for the review. (See Maureen O' Sullivan T.D. Dail questions on the matter below).

Since I joined the programme five of the participants have died but I believe that this figure would have been higher except for the programme. In my time a significant minority have given up taking drugs. The overwhelming majority have reduced their drug use and all have addressed health, legal, housing, family, relationship and other major issues in their lives.

I am honoured to be a member of the National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD) and I am proud that on the 18th October 2011 the NACD published a report and held a one-day seminar- A Family Affair- Supporting children with parental substance misuse. The need to help the children involved was endorsed by two Government Ministers- Roisin Shortall (Minister of State with Responsibility for Primary Care) and Frances Fitzgerald (Minister for Children and Youth Affairs). So we have a Government saying that they want to help people with alcohol and drug problems and they want to introduce supports for their children. 

In my time at KCCP 50% of the participants have been lone parents with the vast majority of the remainder being in receipt of a disability payment (the disability being a result in most cases of their former chronic drug use). The changes coming in on Monday reduces the amount paid to lone parents and halves the payment for all new entrants who join the programme (either on lone parents or with a disability. In my opinion the payments in the past acted as a financial incentive for people to seek treatment. Withdrawing these incentives will in my opinion mean that lone parents on KCCP and similar programmes will be inclined to leave and from Monday those on lone parents or with disabilities will be less inclined to join rehabilitation programmes. There has been no examination of the knock- on effects to the individual, their children and to the communities that they live in. The Kilbarrack experience has been that since the HSE has opened a drug treatment clinic in the area and since KCCP has been providing rehabilitation support that the crime rate in the area has decreased by 50%. The changes are being brought in before the review has even started, without consultation and without regard to the possible damage to peoples ongoing recovery, 

Yours truly,

Declan Byrne

Wicklow Community Employment Scheme Facing Closure

Wicklow Community Employment Scheme Facing Closure

An award winning Community Employment scheme in Aughrim, Co Wicklow is facing closure with the loss of 23 jobs and a severe curtailment of local tourism amenities. The National Disabled Angling Park FAS scheme is based on a 4 acre lake within an 8 acre riverside park with panoramic views overlooking the surrounding Wicklow hills.

The facility is run by "Aughrim Tidy Towns Ltd", a not-for-profit company that sponsors a CE scheme whose participants are responsible for the management, maintenance and running of the park. They also carry out a vital range of services with regard to the upkeep of the town. The scheme is funded by FAS which has implemented a 66% cut in funding despite a Government commitment that no Community Employment Scheme would close pending a review which is due to be completed by the end of March of this year. 

Director of the company and Manager of the scheme, Barry Moules, said;

“The cut of two thirds to our funding that has come into force since 1^st January means we simply do not have the money to keep the scheme going. All of our participants are devastated and the consequences for our town are very serious.” He called on the Government, and local TD’s in particular, to intervene with FAS as a matter of urgency to ensure the survival of the Community Employment Scheme.

The closure of the scheme will mean that the National Disabled Angling Park will have to close to the public. This in turn will result in the closure of the new children’s playground situated in the park. The closure of the park will also have a huge impact on local retailers and the shops providing services to anglers. The wide range of duties in relation to tidy towns work such as litter collection and grass cutting will also cease.

Among the employees affected is Brendan Tallon, a 42 year old father of six children who has been employed on the scheme for the last 18 months.

“This scheme is helping me to up my carpentry skills and begin to plan for self-employment. To be told that it’s going to be stopped when I’m only half way through my 3 year placement is a shattering experience,” he said.

SIPTU Sectoral Organiser, Eddie Mullins, called on FAS to respect the Government’s commitment with regard to funding.

“Minister Joan Burton gave a clear undertaking in the Dáil that no Community Employment Scheme will close pending the outcome of the review. I am calling on FAS to respect this commitment and ensure adequate funding continues to be given for this excellent scheme that plays such a vital role in the local tourism economy of Co Wicklow”.