Republican News · Thursday 27 February 2002

Harney's U-turn On CE Schemes

Community businesses in north Dublin got a stay of execution on Monday after Mary Harney did a u-turn on her decision to withdraw FáS funding from 12 community business schemes.

In the last week, the FáS supported businesses were told that promised funding was to be withdrawn because of budget constraints. Several of the businesses affected by the cuts had already hired staff on the basis of signed commitments from FáS to fund the jobs.

On Monday morning, Harney attended an opening ceremony at a new enterprise centre in the area. The new centre is intended to house community based businesses in the Dublin north east area. She was confronted there about her decision to freeze funding by local Sinn Féin Councillor Larry O'Toole.

"I asked her how she had the neck to come to the area to open a community centre, while she was cutting community jobs down the road," Larry said.

He told the Tánaiste that he wholeheartedly welcomed the opening of the centre, but pointed out the damage caused by her decision to cut back funding for community businesses.

"The Centre is a much needed service for the people of Darndale, Artane and Coolock, who have been overlooked for so long by government policy," said Larry. "However, it was being undermined by the decision to make across-the-board cuts to the Back to Work Scheme and by the previous week's withdrawal of funding for community businesses"

"It was shameless two-facedness on Mary Harney's part, coming to open this centre while simultaneously putting its future in jeopardy. She was robbing Peter to pay Paul."

Later on Monday evening, Larry was speaking on Newstalk FM when he heard that the freeze had been lifted.

"I was delighted to hear the news," Larry said. "Obviously, what I said to Mary Harney, and the reception she got from other community representatives, had some effect. The best part of this is that people who were promised jobs can now start them, and these businesses can continue to operate successfully in the community.

"It is incredible that these programmes, which have proven successful, are first on the chopping block for government cutbacks and it casts a very dark shadow over their long-term viability," he added.

"We need to see a real government strategy to tackling long-term unemployment and endemic poverty. The current policy is just not good enough."