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Editor's Notes
McCarthy proposals will break social contract with disadvantaged communities
by Philip O'Connor


Philip O'Connor
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.

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Employer Forum
Community Sector Employers campaign against funding cuts

Part of the large crowd which attended the community sector protest rally at the Department of Finance, organised by SIPTU with the support of Impact and the CSEF, 3rd June.
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.

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PLANET campaign to protect and develop local employment services

PlanetPLANET - 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 [link to pdf 'PLANET recommendations'] focus on local employability plans, supports for self-employment, "learn and earn" initiatives for people on short time working and local employment creation.

The PLANET proposals include coordination of the delivery of a soft skills programme for medium / low skilled unemployed targeted at improving their competency for work, retention of and increased investment in employment services, such as the LESN, to facilitate innovative local actions and management of NEAP clients, implementation of the lifelong learning strategy to enhance skills and competencies relevant to the 'smart' economy, covering people in employment, in short time working and unemployed.

As the employment crisis deepens, people are rapidly moving through these categories, and responses should take account of this fact. Training previously targeted at "activating" the unemployed and workplace programmes aimed at raising skill and education levels on the job (labour force development) should be integrated as a single continuum.

PLANET also calls for existing 'socially useful work' programmes to be retained and expanded and a new Jobs Initiative type programme to be introduced. It also foresees a refocusing of Active Labour Market Programmes (ALMP) to ensure they are strongly connected to potential employment opportunities, an increase in the number of available ALMP places, in particular CE places, and relaxation of rules concerning duration for participants.

In the area of supports for self-employment PLANET proposes a strengthening of the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA), reducing the qualifying period to 6 months and dropping qualifying periods for BTWEA in the context of significant redundancy.

Visit the PLANET website. Click here

Dublin Employment Pact
The Dublin Employment Pact - Developing innovative solutions for employment and social inclusion in the Dublin Region. Visit our website
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