Uncertainty now hangs over CE schemes in Navan and Dunboyne

The future of community enterprise schemes in Meath has been thrown into serious doubt after materials and training grants were slashed in the recent budget. There have been claims this week that one scheme employing 37 people and a supervisor - the Dunboyne and District Community Enterprise Scheme - is "unsustainable" after having its budget per trainee cut from €1,500 a year to €500. Fianna Fail Cllr Noel Leonard said that the valuable work being done by community enterprise participants in this part of County Meath was being put in jeopardy by the cuts and he asked that the government change its mind on this particular provision in the budget. Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton has ordered a review of the measure but said that no community enterprise scheme would close pending the outcome of that examination. Tánaiste Eamonn Gilmore also denied claims by Sinn Fein that the government was closing down the community schemes. Cllr Leonard, who has been chairperson and a director of the Dunboyne CE Scheme, said this week that he was "very disappointed" by the cuts in the schemes announced in the budget. "We might have been able to scrape through with a cut of five per cent but a cut of 65 per cent - a reduction in the grant per person from €1,500 to €500 a year - would make our scheme unsustainable," he said. The Dunboyne scheme has 37 employees and a supervisor and is involved in training people in creches, meals-on-wheels service, grounds work and caretaking at the athletic club, GAA grounds in Dunboyne, Kilbride, Batterstown, Dunshaughlin and Ratoath, and soccer clubs at Dunshaughlin, Ratoath and Dunboyne, along with the St Vincent de Paul premises in Dunboyne and Dunshaughlin. Participants range in age from 23 years up to retirement age. Cllr Leonard said he did not know what was going to happen to the CE schemes. He said the scheme was vital for people trying to get back into employment. There were 26 outdoor workers in the scheme and they had to be supplied weith high-standard protective clothing. "There are expenses to be paid but these are kept to a bare minimum and are paid to our supervisor who has to visit our sites at Dunboyne, Kilbride, Ratoath and Kilcloon," Mr Leonard said. The FF councillor said he knew that most people did not underestimate the importance of the schemes in helping people who were out of work. "For instance, we had eight people who went from our scheme into full-time employment of one sort of another. That could not be done without training and upskilling," he added. Meanwhile, the supervisor of the Navan Employment Development Project has blamed the recent "brutal, regressive budget" for placing a threat over her scheme which provides work placements for 71. Siobhan Savage runs the scheme at Claremont Stadium and said the government is proposing a 66 per cent cut in materials and training grants. Ms Savage said there was a threat looming over the future of the scheme. She said the only way they could make up the money they were losing was to ask the sponsors/businesses who accept placements to "fork up the money". However, she said that businesses were already under severe pressure because of the recession and she did not know whether or not this would happen. She said the employment development project would be severely affected by the impact of the budget. "Community Employment promotes training and learning for the long-term unemployed over a 12-month period. It encourages those who participate to return to active employment as well as benefiting the community," she added. Navan EDP is comprised of sponsors who principally offer day care, respite and residential services to people with intellectual and physical impairment. There is a constant flow of new learners through the project. Many of the sponsors employ the learners when their time is up on community employment schemes. "This is a huge bonus for the sponsors as they have their staff trained and inducted thus saving them time and precious resources," the supervisor said. She said that if the cuts are implemented, "Navan EDP will not be able to provide the current level of training to our learners and maintain our office and supervisory team". The Navan scheme is the biggest in the north-east and thus has a supervisor and two assistants.