Are you angry over the Government's Bord Snip proposals? Communities are going to get royally shafted. What's to be done about it? Tell us what you think.
The anger has already spilled into comments beneath the 'Minister refuses to meet us...' posting below. For instance, anonymous said...
"Save us! Bord snip, 44m in community cuts! Rapid gone. CE scheme decimated. Areas left to rot. What a joke. Shame on all involved with these cuts. We'll be back to the horror days of the 80s with bag snatching, heroin epidemics, no go areas etc. Oh give me strength."
3 comments:
An Bord Snip more like An Board Shaft. Once more those most marginalised will be hit while the fat cats look down on us from their high pensions. Shame on ye. Takes you back to the 80s when Charlie was telling us to tighten our belts while he was wearing the 1500 pound designer shirts.
How dare they say there is little evidence of the value of the programme. In our community the CDP is the only infrastructure in the area, aside from our direct programmes and activities which are busier than ever. We have a CE project that provides employment and training to 40 local people. A youth project that has 7 qualified staff who provided developmental programmes to over 600 young pople in the last 12 months, an afterschools project and a drugs satilite clinic.We have managed to get funding to get a purpose built youth centre, refurbish a falling down community centre both of which are full to capacity every day. If this is not value for money then what is. If the CDP goes all this will be gone as well and this already shafted and neglected community will be left to rot.
Little Bray Family Resource Centre CDP
No matter how many times I hear the phrase ‘We must all share the pain’ it never fails to send me into a hysterical rant that lasts probably longer than it should.
But am I right?
Let’s look at An Bord Snip’s report, starting with Education:
An Bord Snip, Section A.2, proposes suspending additional recruitment to the National Education Psychological Service (NEPS).
Children waiting for this test have already been waiting for an unacceptable length of time during the ‘boom’ years. I know of a number of children who have reached 5th and 6th class whilst waiting to be tested. If this suspension occurs: a significant number of children will not receive the additional educational, psychological or social supports that they will need to become fully active citizens in our future society.
The saving to the Government: €1.4 million. The cost to the child, the family, the community and to society: irreversible damage.
The same applies to the Reduction in the Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) only this will not only affect the child but the class as a whole. When a child needs an SNA it is because the child needs individual support in the classroom. There is a rigorous criterion attached to applying for an SNA and they are small in number as it is. How is reducing these figures to 2006 levels going to support the social or economic structure of society in the future?
The saving to the Governmen: €60 million. The cost to the child, the family, the community and to society: irreversible damage.
People who can afford to buy these services and supports privately will continue to do so. Those who cannot will just lose out.
The Private Education sector may be hit as well, but so much for ‘Sharing the Pain’! An Bord Snip says Government Funding to fee paying schools – which currently stands at €119m annually – should be cut over a number of years to save €25m.
Oh yes!!! I can certainly see where the pain is being equally shared here!
Let’s move onto Social Welfare and the well-paid people who live the high life on the dole in this country. An example was given in An Bord Snip’s report about a single parent with one child and it would appear by all accounts that she/he is fairly well off on €497 a week.
This applies to one category of single parent – one living in Private Rented accommodation – probably after years of being on a local authority housing list.
But let’s have a REAL look at this lucrative €497:
In reality a single parent gets €231 a week, as follows: €205 adult payment and €26 for the child (as if you could raise a child on €26 a week).
It could get worse. Bord Snip would leave the single parent with €34.69 per day to pay bills, including their share of the rent, food, clothing, education and replacing household items when necessary.
Equate this with pay in the Department of An Taoiseach. €17.8 Million is spent on pay for 237 employees (An Bord Snip report, pg 205, Vol.II). That’s on average €75,105 per employee, per year.
There are no proposals to reduce salaries here. Cut jobs yes, but not salaries.
A Single Parent must live on €34.69 per day and people who work in the Taoiseach’s Department get paid a pre-tax figure of €206.00 per day!! They take home around €150 per day, five times the income of a lone parent.
Can anyone, anyone at all, explain to me where the pain is being shared?
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