IMPACT has accused the Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney, of adding to the dole queues by making 300 FAS supervisors redundant, while voicing concern at job losses in the high-tech sector, Funding for the school-based community employment (CE) schemes will end on September 1st. Some 5,800 CE scheme participants will be redeployed to other schemes but not the supervisors, who are full-time FAS employees.
IMPACT official Mr Tom Brady said the lay-offs would come before negotiations on a redundancy package were complete. "While Ms Harney is breaking her holidays to rightly deal with the job losses in Macroom, Co Cork, her own Department is making 300 CE supervisors redundant."
He said the move was in breach of a Government commitment that changes in the structure of CE schemes would be facilitated by "a smooth transition".
Unless the Government dealt with the issues properly, many schools could find themselves without classroom assistants, secretaries and undertakers. The scheme costs £46 million a year and is being transferred to the Department of Education and Science.
"Although this might seem a lot it is only £2,000 per school," Mr Brady said. "We are particularly concerned that schools in disadvantaged areas will not be able to employ staff under the new arrangements."
On the issue of redundancies, he said supervisors were only being offered statutory redundancy by the Department. In a number of individual cases taken to Rights Commissioners four weeks' pay plus statutory redundancy had been established as the norm by IMPACT.
The union is seeking four weeks for all supervisors who cannot be redeployed. Mr Brady said some supervisors had 15 years' service. The Secretary General of the Department, Mr Paul Haran, is to meet IMPACT to discuss the situation on August 31st.