Community workers,
 Researchers and Minister size up 
barriers/solutions

BY ALLEN MEAGHER

Read the full article in Issue 56 - Winter 2016/’17 of ‘Changing Ireland’!

Flick through the pages or download the PDF here: http://bit.ly/CI-Iss56-Winter2016-17

The 2016 annual Pobal Conference was held in The Helix threatre, DCU, Dublin, on the day after the world learned that Donald Trump had won the US presidential election.

Given the platform on which he stood and how he tapped into alienation among the working poor and those on the margins, Pobal’s conference theme was apt: “Creating an Inclusive Labour Market”. 

Unemployment in Ireland fell to 7.2% by January of this year, 0.1% lower than in November, However, unemployment remains high for groups such as refugees, Travellers and people with low formal education, while people who are unemployed for more than three years (termed “very long-term unemployed”) face considerable barriers.

The audience/participants and the many guest speakers – too many to mention – identified barriers and sought solutions to make employment opportunities more socially inclusive. 

Get the latest on community development here in Ireland - and abroad

Our latest edition is PACKED with social inclusion and community development news you won't read anywhere else:

LEAD STORY: Early childhood intervention works, according to newly published evidence from Dublin.

MEASURING POVERTY: Ever wondered how poverty is measured and how who gets what? Plenty debate inside the covers here, with Pobal and Truth Haase contributing to a debate begun by Ian Dempsey of West Cork Development Partnership.

FROM BRUSSELS: Ben Panter reports back on how and why we must respond to the humanitarian issue of refugees seeking sanctity. Meanwhile, the EU continues to break international law.

CULTURAL RIGHTS: Ray Lucey went along twice - he volunteered as well as reported - from inside Dublin's only cinema geared specifically towards people who are homeless.

CO-OPS: You'll never bake alone! And how to resurrect clubs that faced the axe. Plus Utopia in Ireland – it’s possible, claims Joe Leddin.

EQUALITY in Monaghan in 1955 is compared to equality today - it seems that only Travellers are worse off than they were six decades ago. Hats off to Monaghan County Council for an utterly unique angle on the struggle for equality.

And HORACE is back, with an answer to the Irish issue of who he should pay for his water!

LCDP Progress Report published; community groups await "alignment" proposals

Some of the 10,000 people who got a training boost through the LCDP in 2011

(1) This week Community Minister Phil Hogan is reportedly due to discuss his "alignment" proposals with Cabinet which could see local authorities gaining far more control over State-funded community and local development initiatives. 

Wexford scheme has warmed 2500 homes & created jobs

Wexford Local Development

By Allen Meagher

Around ten Local Development Companies (LDCs) are delivering the Better Energy Homes Scheme around the country along with 20 other community-based organisations.

 
In Wexford, it’s been such a success that Wexford Local Development (WLD) were invited to showcase their work at an OECD/Pobal conference held in Dublin in October to examine local responses to long-term unemployment.

The other 1%

Childcare worker Damien Walshe with Bobby Hogan and Jack Keely (credit Matt Kavanagh)

- 99% of childcare workers are female
By Conor Hogan

It is strange that while completely normal for a man to take care of his own children, those who wish to make a career out of childcare are often greeted with suspicion.

“The question is sometimes asked - ‘Why would a man want to be in a room with children?’ – but the same would never be posed about a woman,” says Andrew Doherty of the Waterford County Childcare Community.

While this is one of the reasons for the low participation rate by men in childcare, it doesn’t quite explain the especially low rate in Ireland, estimated at less than 1% of staff – the worst in the EU. Compare this to the higher than 20% participation rate in Norway and Denmark. 

So, is there any immediate difference between Ireland and these countries that could explain this disparity?

NEW RESOURCE: POBAL MAPS

- Social inclusion mapping now a reality

With the click of a mouse, you can now view levels of deprivation in your area under a range of categories and down to street level.

You don’t hear people saying ‘Thanks to Pobal’ everyday, but that’s where the credit is due and this is a free resource which people will tend to underestimate until they try it out.

Pobal to continue, despite pre-election talk of closure

Pobal looks likely to continue to be supported by the Government, despite pre-election talk of closure, Minister Phil Hogan has indicated to 'Changing Ireland'.

The Government agency was listed as one of the 145 so-called "quangos" that the State could do without, with Fine Gael proposing the takeover of its functions by local authorities. The body handled €377m of national and EU funding in 2007 and is responsible for managing a range of community-related Government programmes.

Recently, 'Changing Ireland' asked Minister Phil Hogan about Pobal's future.

Minister Hogan pointed out that it was a matter for Government and not for he alone to decide:

“While it is possible that the services provided by Pobal could be provided internally by my Department or other Departments, it is unlikely that significant savings would arise given that staff resources would need to be redeployed, systems would require development and the necessary expertise in providing advice to the sectors concerned may not be readily available. 

“Additionally, because Pobal delivers funding on behalf of a number of Departments involved in supporting services in the not-for-profit, community and voluntary sectors, the Company is in a unique position to bring considerable value-added because of its comprehensive knowledge of the sectors.  The central administration and integration of services offered by the Company across the various programmes and the fact that the same staff work on a number of programmes are considerable strengths which would not be easily replicated if Departments separately implemented programmes.”

'Changing Ireland' also asked about €750,000 which was recently cut from Pobal’s budget to manage the Dormant Accounts Fund. We asked was this re-distributed to community initiatives or sent to ‘Brussels’?

The Minister replied that “efficiency are retained as savings (and) are not redistributed.”

The Local & Community Development Programme (LCDP)

The Local & Community Development Programme (LCDP) is managed by POBAL on behalf of the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs. It forms part of the National Development Plan 2007 -2013.

The Programme is an amalgamation of two former programmes, Local Development Social Inclusion Programme and the Community Development Programme.

AIM: The LCDP aims to tackle poverty and social exclusion through partnership between Government and people in the most disadvantaged communities.

PROGRAMME GOALS: There are four key goals under LCDP.

• GOAL 1: Promote awareness, knowledge and uptake of a wide range of statutory, voluntary and community services;

• GOAL 2: Increase access to formal and informal educational, recreational and cultural activities and resources

• GOAL 3: Increase in people’s work readiness and employment prospects

• GOAL 4: Promote engagement with policy, practice, and decision-making processes on matters affecting local communities

‘Changing Ireland’/www.changingireland.ie is the national magazine for the Programme. It is setting up as an independent company, having for the past 9 years being managed by the voluntary board of management of the CDN Moyross Ltd.

We will shortly be publishing a map showing the distribution of companies nationwide within the Programme.

For more on CDPs and their place within the Programme, check our earlier blog entry.