Limerick community centre boss wants to see end to time limits on CE schemes

THE CHIEF executive of a northside community centre which employs almost 100 people on Community Enterprise (CE) schemes has called for an end to the time limit on these placements.

Linda Ledger, who heads up St Munchin’s Community Centre in Kileely, provides work for 85 people on CE schemes across two sites.

This is both in St Munchin’s Centre itself and a fitness hub in neighbouring Ballynanty.

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Funded by the Department of Protection, CE schemes provide temporary, part-time work for people who are long-term unemployed or disadvantaged.

Those taking part in them receive a top-up to their social welfare payment each week, with the schemes often geared at doing work to support local communities.

At St Munchin’s, staff deliver meals-on-wheels, a friendly telephone call service to people who might be lonely, catering, and gardening work.

But in most cases, people can only take part in the schemes for a year.

Ms Ledger is to meet the minister responsible for Community Enterprise, Dara Calleary, this month.

The end goal for CE schemes is to get people into full-time paid work -but she believes sometimes this is not possible.

“People with disabilities, people who have never worked, perhaps don’t know how to work, come to us. When they come in, after 12 weeks, they wonder why they didn’t do it before. You get a sense of purpose, a sense of place. But some of them are never going to progress. Not through any fault of their own, but if you have an addiction, alcohol issues or depression, your whole house is upside down. They need to be allowed to stay,” she explained.

Ms Ledger believes CE provides the “backbone” to her community.

“Around the country, I don’t think they value it as much as we do,” she added.

Ms Ledger was speaking as she received a plaque from the Department of Social Protection to recognise St Munchin’s Community Centre’s 30 years of providing CE jobs to people across the city and the county.