Sir, - It is very encouraging to read in The Irish Times the healthy state of the Government's finance and of the overall strength of the Irish economy, as shown by the increase in business around Ireland, at Christmas time, However, in the midst of this economic boom it is widely recognised that the problem of high rate's of long term, unemployment still persists, with Ireland having one of the highest levels of long term unemployment in the European Union.
As one means of tackling this problem, the Conference of Religious in Ireland (CORI) got approval in 1994 from the Government to pilot a Part Time Job Opportunities Programme (PTJOP) in six areas around Ireland. The PTJOP has proved to, be a success with 1,000 jobs being created nationally on the Programme. However, with the programme due to end next September, all of these workers will be unemployed unless the Government makes a decision to continue the programe. In addition to this the services provided in schools, community groups and voluntary organisations, employing these workers will be severely affected. The loss of this programme will have a negative impact on many disadvantaged people.
The Waterford Social Justice Group calls on the Government to give an immediate commitment to continue this Programme and that these existing jobs should be continued into ongoing jobs for the present Programme workers. We feel that this would make a positive contribution to the reduction of the high levels of long term unemployment in Ireland, and provide valuable assistance to some community services. - Yours, etc.,
Secretary
Waterford Social Justice
Group
37 Lower Yellow Road
Waterford.