Welfare officers to join voluntary groups in opposing cuts

Community Welfare Officers are to join forces with 13 voluntary organisations in opposing a series of social welfare cuts due to come into force this month.

Despite the fact the "savage 16" cuts have been signed off as new regulations by the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Ms Coughlan, the spokesman for the CWOs said they would be working with anti-poverty groups over the next three weeks "to decide how we are going to deal with this".

Mr Pat Bolger, secretary of the eastern regional health division of IMPACT, said it was "unusual" for public servants to work with the voluntary sector in opposing Government policy, but added it was a measure of "how really seriously we're taking this".

CWOs will have to implement the cuts, which include cuts to rent supplement and the ending of the creche supplement. The unions representing CWOs - SIPTU and IMPACT - met representatives of the 13 organisations yesterday and affirmed their continued determination to oppose the cuts, which they say will result in homelessness and in children with emotional and social needs losing creche places.

The 13 organisations - among them Threshold, the Simon Communities, the One Parent Exchange Network and the Irish Refugee Council - will meet next week to co-ordinate their campaign.

The cuts, announced in the November Book of Estimates, were signed into regulation by Ms Coughlan on December 18th. As part of her Department's drive to save €55.8 million this year, she decided that eligibility for rent allowance will depend on an applicant having already been renting for six months.

Exceptions will be made for various categories including people defined as homeless. This change comes into force at the end of the month.

Abolition of the creche supplement, paid to give a creche place to children with identified needs, came into force on January 1st. Despite hints by Ms Coughlan that health boards would take over this payment, no such arrangements have been made.

Mr Bolger said the cut to rent supplement was "stark" and would particularly hit single people and lone parents.

Referring to the provision in the new regulations that every applicant for rent allowance will now have to be assessed by their local authority on their housing need, Mr Bolger said he did not believe the local authorities "will have the staff and capacity to deal with the increased workload".

A spokeswoman for the Department of the Environment said no extra funds would be made available to local authorities to increase staff in their housing sections. Waiting times for an initial housing assessment are already up to three months in some parts of the State.

The Labour Party spokesman on Social and Family Affairs, Mr Willie Penrose, has said the end of year Exchequer returns for 2003 showed there was "no economic justification" for the welfare cuts. He urged Ms Coughlan to reverse the cuts.