Lone parent support groups will face severe disruption to services and could even be forced to close down if the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment presses ahead with plans to cut back the Community Employment (CE) scheme, the organisation representing CE workers warned last night.
The Scheme Workers Alliance, which represents all 37,500 CE participants, said the phased reduction of 9,500 places on the scheme from next month posed a serious threat to voluntary organisations relying on it to meet staffing requirements.
Groups such as Gingerbread, Parental Equality and Treoir that provide support and advice for single parents will be badly hit, according to the SWA.
The warning comes ahead of an SWA rally at the ATGWU union hall in Dublin this evening to highlight what the organisation describes as a "Thatcherite attack" on community organisations. A follow-up protest takes place outside the Department of Enterprise and Employment on Friday.
The number of places on the CE programme will be reduced from 37,500 to 28,000 over five years, beginning next month, and the age of eligibility for participants is to be raised from 21 to 25. For the first time, participants will be eligible for the scheme for only a maximum of three years. The move has drawn criticism from SIPTU, the ATGWU and the Irish National Organisation for the Unemployed.
The SWA last night accused the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney, of reneging on a pledge under the Partnership 2000 pay agreement to create an additional 10,000 CE places.
An SWA spokesman, Mr Joe Carolan, said many voluntary organisations would struggle if there was a reduction in the number of staff who could be hired.
"These groups are heavily dependent on the CE scheme for staff. They will be badly hit under these plans. There is no doubt that some will be forced to close," he said.
But a spokesman for the Department dismissed the claims that the voluntary services sector would be thrown into crisis. He said an additional 5,000 community workers would be made available through a new Social Economy Programme, to be set up in tandem with the restructuring of the CE scheme.