437 jobs may be lost as work schemes slashed
HUNDREDS of part-time jobs will be lost across north Kerry in the coming months because of massive government cuts in funding for Community Employment Schemes.
At present 437 people are employed in 21 CE schemes operating in towns and villages across north Kerry. The workers are paid just €20 extra per week on top of their jobseekers' benefit and the scheme has led to massive improvements to a vast range of services and community work in north Kerry in recent years.
However, a massive cut of 66 per cent in the CE budget for this year means jobs these jobs now face the axe.
Over 150 people voiced their opposition and called for a u-turn on the cuts at a public meeting held in Listowel on Thursday.
"It's completely non-sensical," CE scheme supervisor in Listowel Stephen Keane told The Kerryman. "They will simply save €20 per week on each CE worker, but will lose a massive amount of money. A project with 20 workers spends roughly €23,000 on materials per year. All that money is spent local to where the scheme is, so immediately you are taking that out of the local economy."
"You therefore lose a similar figure in PRSI, tax and VAT payments on materials to the Exchequer. We can't make head nor tail of it and we are calling on the government to reverse the cuts." he said.
He said that the training budget of the CE scheme has been wiped completely: "The whole point of it was to train and upskill people so they could get back into work, but that's gone now."
Listowel CE worker Martin Griffin, who is employed on the Lartigue Monorail project, said the scheme brings more than financial benefits. "The CE scheme gives us hope. Once it is gone places will deteriorate fast and they will find it hard to restart it," he said
- DONAL NOLAN dnolan@kerryman.ie
