Labour has engineered a Dáil vote next week on the funding of the Community Employment Scheme in an attempt to embarrass Fianna Fáil TDs who have been voicing opposition to their own Government's policy on the issue.
As Minister of State Mr Frank Fahey yesterday continued his public campaign to secure extra funding for the CE scheme, Labour moved to force the vocal Fianna Fáil opponents of the Government position to vote for it in the Dáil.
The Government also faced further pressure yesterday over its proposed cuts in eligibility for some social welfare schemes yesterday. The head of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency, Ms Olive Braiden, said the restriction on eligibility for Rent Allowance could encourage some women with crisis pregnancies to have abortions.
Meanwhile unions representing community welfare officers who administer many of the schemes affected by the cuts said the effect of the changes "was either not understood or disregarded".
Referring to reports that 40 Fianna Fáil backbenchers have called for extra resources to be given to the CE scheme, Labour's enterprise spokesman, Mr Brendan Howlin, said: "Our motion will now give them an opportunity to demonstrate that their concerns about the decimation of the Community Employment Scheme are genuine. We look forward to their support for the Labour Party motion when it is debated and voted on next week."
There is no expectation that any Fianna Fáil backbenchers will defy the Government on the issue when it is voted on next Wednesday evening. However the Government must decide next week what amendment to put to the Labour private members' motion in order to cause the least discomfort to their own TDs.
The Government spending Estimates for next year allow for 25,000 places on community employment, jobs initiative and social economy schemes. This is the same number as at the end of this year, but some 5,000 less than at the start of this year. The CE scheme is sensitive in many local areas as it both provides employment for individuals and ensures CE workers staff various community projects.
The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, accused Fianna Fáil backbenchers of hypocrisy after they voted yesterday morning against a Fine Gael proposal to debate the CE scheme in the Dáil. He said that despite media reports that 40 Fianna Fáil backbenchers had called for more resources to be given to the CE scheme, "they passed up a prime opportunity to effect actual change rather than simply cry crocodile tears on the issue".
Meanwhile Mr Fahey said yesterday that he believed the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, was "wrong" in seeking to restrict the number of CE places. "He should change his mind because the amount of money involved is so small," he said on RTÉ's Morning Ireland programme.
The statement yesterday by the head of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency that cuts in eligibility for Rent Allowance could lead to more women having abortions is likely to add to unease within Fianna Fáil over next year's spending Estimates.
When a woman is faced with a crisis pregnancy, she said, "accommodation and proper living conditions are going to be a primary consideration in her decision making," said Ms Braiden.