DESMOND GRAHAM,
Sir, - While the whole country seems to have lost its collective mind because of happenings in the Orient, few people have been willing to address the recent decisions by the Tánaiste governing the FÁS Community Employment programme.
In the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness it was agreed that the level of participation in community employment would not sink below a figure of 28,000 by the end of 2003. Yet, shortly before the dissolution of the last Dáil, the Tánaiste announced that FÁS would be required to deliver a figure in the region of 24,000 by the end of this year. This statement was in the form of a Dáil reply. There was no accompanying press statement from her Department, but a faceless spokeswoman made the point that, as the numbers of long-term unemployed had diminished, there was less need now for the programme.
This simplification of the issue illustrates the insensitive attitude of the Tánaiste to any social welfare element within the State's commitments. It means that the marginalised and excluded in our society are treated in a way that is highlighted in Vincent Browne's prescient article of June 12th. To accept this is a woeful condemnation of Irish society. To try to hide it borders on the indecent. - Yours, etc.,
DESMOND GRAHAM,
Collins Avenue East,
Donnycarney,
Dublin 5.