The McCarthy proposals will break the 18-year social contract with disadvantaged communities. The Government has not, as yet, endorsed the proposals in the McCarthy Report (Bord Snip Nua) for radical cuts across all areas of social spending.

Given the composition and "secretariat" of the group that produced the McCarthy Report, it can be seen as the wish list of the Department of Finance.  But, as The Irish Times commented, the report "presents a menu of financial options to Government without any reference to the social policy of the state" (Editorial, 17th July). And that is the core issue.

The Dignity Programme is an interagency initiative working to deliver quality services for victims of sex-trafficking in Ireland.

Myles Dungan had a discussion on the s issue, with Philip O Connor, Director Dublin Employment Pact & Dignity Programme, Linda Latham, Co-ordinator Women's Health Unit, HSE and Nusha Yonkova, Anti-trafficking Co-Ordinator, Immigrant Council of Ireland.

Click here to listen to the full interview and find out more about the Dignity Programme.

The Community Sector Employers Forum (CSEF) has called on community organisations to support the campaign against cuts in services and jobs across the sector. The campaign was launched by SIPTU at a rally attended by 2,000 workers at Liberty Hall on 3rd June. The campaign is set to heat up in the autumn and is also supported by IMPACT.

As we head deeper into economic crisis and unemployment heads towards half a million, government programmes must change direction to prioritise maintaining existing jobs and creating new employment. 

When recovery does come, there will be whole sectors that will not return for many years, and new jobs will be created in novel sectors. Examining this scenario and proposing what action can be taken at the national and regional (Dublin) levels to maintain existing jobs and rebuild employment is the objective of an initiative led by Dublin Employment Pact.

The joint DEP-Immigrant Council 'Dignity Project', funded under the EU Daphne Programme, is developing a model for an integrated services approach to tackle trafficking into Ireland for the "sex industry".

Women (and men) trapped in the trafficking industry currently face deportation and re-trafficking when "caught" by the authorities. The project is developing a model of Government-NGO supports to enable people to exit this wretched "industry" through providing safe accommodation, a legally safe and secure "reflection" period, and integration or return supports to a new life.

Click here to listen to Dignity Project interview on Pat Kenny radio show.

PLANET - the network of local partnerships in Ireland has responded rapidly to the employment crisis, presenting to Government a range of proposals for local level interventions.

Even if the economy recovers, unemployment is destined to remain high for up to a decade. The PLANET proposals (click here for details) focus on local employability plans, supports for self-employment, "learn and earn" initiatives for people on short time working and local employment creation.

In the first major urban policy initiative under the EU's 7th Framework Programme for research, local authorities, universities, research institutes and non-governmental partnerships have engaged in a series of development seminars aimed at establishing and teasing out the main social research issues effecting cities.

The 'Social Polis' initiative will focus on a range of cities, including Dublin, examining the development of innovative employment strategies in response to the economic crisis. DEP will lead the project in Dublin.

In his presentation to a Round Table event on an initiative to build the social enterprise sector in this time of crisis, Dr John Sweeney of NESC, stated that "in a period of crisis, the previously unthinkable can become the solution."

As corporate sponsorship shrinks and private suppliers of social services in disadvantaged communities come under economic pressure and exit the market, the scope for effective third sector provision will grow and become more urgent.

Action Research carried out by Maria Hegarty among immigrant groups, employers and service providers has identified a series of "barriers to integration" which must and can be addressed by public policy intervention.

As the recession bites ever deeper, there is a serious danger that initiatives to bring learning to the low-skilled will be sacrificed in the rush to meet new emergencies.  Already, the specialist DEP programme Learning at Work and its role in the FÁS Skills for Work programme have been cut back radically.

In a Europe-wide evaluation of over 300 projects funded under European Social Fund programmes over the last five years, the DEP Equal at Work project was one of just six selected from a shortlist of sixteen and awarded as a 'model of best practice' at an event in Prague on 4th June.

An initiative under the FÁS Skills for Work programme implemented by DEP resulted in 357 workers achieving FETAC accredited training. Most of the participants had education qualifications below junior certificate level. The programme was delivered in the eight months to May 2009.

There is an urgent need for Government to identify and support sectors that have the potential for job creation and growth. This is a according to a specialist Employment Working Group, co-ordinated by The European Anti-Poverty Network Ireland (EAPN).

The world-wide-web impacts all aspects of our lives.  On a personal level the ability to access the internet for online purchases, researching a holiday or sending photos to loved ones far away, is a staple of modern life.