Lone Parents Group Claims Government is Targeting Poor Families Through CE Cutbacks

national | miscellaneous | feature Saturday November 22, 2003 18:15 by B Hughes - Parents Alone Support Service passltd at eircom dot net 3a Main St, Finglas, Dublin 11

Protest called outside Dail for Weds 26th November at 11.00 am

The National Organisation of Lone Parents, OPEN stated in a press release "The proposed changes to Community Employment and the axing of other labour market programmes are further damning evidence of a lack of government commitment to poor families, in spite of rhetoric about child poverty [...]"

OPEN, the national network of lone parent groups has expressed its anger and dismay at the latest reported changes to the Community Employment (CE) programme. "During its first incarnation, the FF/PD coalition altered the CE programme so that lone parents under 25 years of age were excluded from participation" said Frances Byrne, spokesperson for the group. "The latest leaked report proposes increasing CE hours from 19.5 to 30 hours per week. This change would discriminate against lone parents with school-going children, who will simply not be available to work the extended hours. To add insult to injury, CE participants would not be paid for the additional hours. Every report, including those commissioned by the government, has shown that lone parents rely on this scheme to overcome poverty and welfare dependency", continued Ms. Byrne, "How then can this government justify punishing some of the most excluded families in the state?"

OPEN has already surveyed their groups in Dublin in order to monitor the local effects of ongoing government cutbacks in CE and other programmes. The results show widespread reductions in staff and services in communities such as Finglas and Tallaght. A group in N.E. Dublin reported that its already relying exclusively on donations in order to continue to provide education and training programmes to lone parents and others in their community. Lone parent groups in Tipperary, Limerick and Mayo have also had to drastically curtail their activities. This means that in many rural areas lone parents and their children are losing vital services.

"According to the 2002 Census, there are just under 160,000 lone parents in the state. Half of these families 79,254 rely on social welfare payments to survive", said Byrne. "This government has continued to ignore these families and their needs. The national agreement, Sustaining Progress, contains one loose reference to lone parents. A major report on lone parents produced by the social partners and others on the National Economic and Social Forum and examined by the government has gathered dust on the shelves of senior civil servants and politicians since 2001, with none of its 47 recommendations yet implemented."

"The proposed changes to Community Employment and the axing of other labour market programmes are further damning evidence of a lack of government commitment to poor families, in spite of rhetoric about child poverty," added OPEN's spokesperson, "Our members are asking why the government is going out of its way to re-design an already severely restricted programme in a way that targets lone parents more than other participants? Is this a reflection of an underlying attitude at the cabinet table, which previously reared its head during the 1997 general election?"

"These proposals must be stopped", said Byrne. "OPEN will be meeting with community groups, trade unions and Opposition parties to curb this attack on vulnerable families and the communities they live in."

Regarding cutbacks announced by the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, which will have particular impacts on one-parent families. We wish to inform you of an event/gathering-taking place outside Dáil Eireann next Wednesday November 26th at 11.00am:

We hope to see you all next Wednesday. It is really important that our groups unite to oppose these measures.
One Parent Exchange & Network
Unit 19, Greendale Centre, Kilbarrack,Dublin 5
Tel: (01) 832-0264
Fax: (01) 832-0737