LOCAL LABOUR UPDATELUCAN AND PALMERSTOWN EDITION

The levels of unemployment are unprecedented –including in Palmerstown and Lucan. My priority asyour local TD is to make this the Government’s mainfocus this year. A number of initiatives wereannounced in the budget. While more needs to bedone, there are opportunities out there for localpeople in search of employment and who needexperience, education and training. Here are some ofthe schemes that may suit you:

Momentum - www.momentumskills.ieIf you are unemployed for 12 months or longer youmay be eligible to apply for one of the projects onthe Government's new Momentum programme.Projects include education and training in areas ofhigh employment in the future. Some projects areaimed at those 25 and under. Momentum projectsinclude work placements and links to identified jobvacancies and employers. Lists of projects areavailable on the Momentum websitewww.momentumskills.ie where you can search byarea or by category such as Dublin and orSports/Leisure or Engineering related.

Eligibility:You must either be in receipt of Jobseeker’sAllowance/benefit for 12 months or more, or signingon the live register for Social Insurance credits for 12months or more. Periods on Youth Reach and certainother schemes may be counted towards the 12months required. You must apply through yournearest employment services office to confirm youreligibility and get assistance in identifying a suitableMomentum project. Participants continue to receivetheir jobseekers payments while on the course.

Springboard - www.springboardcourses.ieEligibility requirements for Springboard cover moretypes of participants. The courses are free and aredelivered by private and state providers includingthird level colleges. Examples are a Certificate inPharmaceutical and Medical Device Operations(currently advertised on the Springboard website)based in Dublin that could help you gain an entrylevel position within the Pharma/Medical DeviceIndustries. It commences in April and is being run inconjunction with the Institute of Technology Tallaght.

There is also Postgraduate Certificate in Innovation,Entrepreneurship and Enterprise in UCD starting inMay. Keep an eye on www.springboardcourses.ie ifyou want to increase your prospects of finding workby adding to your qualifications.

Eligibility: You can be in receipt of one of a numberof social welfare payments including Jobseeker’s butalso Carer’s Allowance and the Widow(er)’s Pensionamongst others - all listed on the Springboard site.You might also be eligible if you are actively seekingemployment and either signing on for credits orpreviously self-employed .There is no minimum timefor these eligibility criteria.

Jobbridge - www.jobbridge.ie3000 extra JobBridge places were announced inBudget 2013 by the Minister for SocialProtection,Joan Burton TD. JobBridge is a Governmentinitiative designed to offer jobseekers an opportunityto enhance their skills and add new ones through aninternship lasting 6-9 months. The internships arevery diverse with a range of employers, both publicand private. A report last October found that 52 % ofJobBridge 'finishers' were currently in paid

employment since finishing their internships. You canapply at www.jobbridge.ie.

Eligibility: You must have a live claim and be inreceipt of Jobseekers Allowance/JobseekersBenefit/One Parent Family Payment/DisabilityAllowance or signing for Social InsuranceContribution credits for at least 3 months (78 days).

TUS - www.welfare.ieThe Tús initiative is a community work placementscheme providing short-term working opportunitiesfor unemployed people since 2011. Unemployedpeople who are eligible for the scheme will beidentified and contacted by their social welfare localoffice and offered the opportunity to participate inthe scheme. If they agree they will be referred to theirlocal development company where they will berecruited for a suitable placement when it becomesavailable. You can read more about the selectionprocess on www.welfare.ie.

Social Employment and Community EmploymentSchemesThere are to be 3000 Social Employment placesnationwide run by local authorities who are beingencouraged by the Department of Social Protectionto apply to sponsor these places. 2000 extraCommunity Scheme places are to be providedbringing the total places above 25,000. More detailsin the Ballyfermot and Clondalkin EmploymentServices Offices.

Where to get information: As well as the websites listed above, you can obtaininformation on jobseeker opportunities from CitizensInformation service in Lucan and Palmerstown. Inaddition, if you wish to contact me, I can arrange topost you out information and forms.

WHAT OPPORTUNITIES ARE THERE FOR JOBSEEKERS?

from Joanna Tuffy TD, Spring 2013

Overleaf...

� help for those in debt

� grants for community gardens

� EU Presidency

� Comhairle na nÓg

� Junior Cert Reforms

� Anti bullying Framework

HOW TO CONTACT YOUR LOCAL REPS

Cllr. Caitríona Jones087 203 4427cjones@sdublincoco.ie

Cllr. Eamon Tuffy086 386 3173etuffy@sdublincoco.ie

Robert Dowds TD01 618 3446robert.dowds@oir.ie

Joanna Tuffy TDDáil Eireann, Leinster House, Dublin 2

Dáil Office: 01 6183822Constituency Office: 01 6218400

Email: joanna.tuffy@oireachtas.ieWeb: www.joannatuffy.ie

Joanna Tuffy TD

@joannatuffytd

What opportunities are there for Jobseekers??

INFORMATION SESSION

11am -1pm Friday 1st March 2013@ Constituency Office of Joanna Tuffy TDDispensary Lane, Lucan, Co. Dublin

Emer Costello MEP01 874 6109emer.costello@europarl.europa.eu

Joanna Tuffy holding information sessions at her office.

FUNDING COMMUNITY GARDENS THATENGAGE UNEMPLOYED PEOPLEThe Community Foundation for Ireland is awarding smallgrants under a Community Growers Fund for CommunityGarden projects that engage unemployed people incommunity garden and allotment projects in an urban settingin Dublin, Kildare, Meath, and Wicklow.Grants will range from€1,000 to €10,000 depending on size of site and level ofpreparatory work needed. Some larger grants will be madeavailable in certain circumstances, if a project candemonstrate exceptional potential to make an impact. Moreinformation, including the criteria for the grants and theapplication forms are available at communityfoundation.ie.The closing date for Round 4 is 28th February 2013.

GRANTS FOR RESPITE CARE, ACTIVECITIZENSHIP PROGRAMMES & ADVOCACYPROGRAMMES FOR OLDER PEOPLE These grants are been offered by the Community Foundationunder its Caring Community Grants Scheme. The closing dateis the 29th March. 20 Grants of up to €2,500 are available toorganisations providing or enabling emergency and out-of-hours respite only to family carers; 10 Grants of up to €7,500are available to organisations working towards inclusion ofolder people in active citizenship roles. And 10 Grants of upto €7,500 are available to organisations working towardsinclusion of older people in advocacy roles. Seewww.foundation.ie

DUBLIN MID-WEST APPLICATIONSINVITED FOR €500,000 AWARDSPROGRAMME Social Entrepreneurs Ireland is now open for applications forthis year’s Awards Programme, with a total cash fund of€500,000 to support individuals with new solutions for socialchallenges in Ireland.

The Awards Programme will see eight social entrepreneursselected to partake in one of two support Programmes: theImpact Programme and the Elevator Programme. Three socialentrepreneurs will be selected for the Impact Programme andwill each receive direct funding of €130,000 over two years,as well as over €70,000 worth of training, mentoring andsupport.

Five social entrepreneurs will be selected for the ElevatorProgramme and will each receive direct funding of €22,000over one year, as well as over €10,000 worth of training,mentoring and support. The deadline for applications isMonday 18th February. Full details of the application process,eligibility criteria and an overview of the Awards Programmecan be found online at www.socialentrepreneurs.ie.

ANTI BULLYING FRAMEWORKMinister Ruairi Quinn has launched an Anti BullyingFramework for schools. It is a template for schools to tacklebullying and involves a whole school approach.

EU JOB GUARANTEE FOR IRISHYOUTH

Ireland holds the Presidency of the European Union until theend of June. As part of this I will be co-chairing two meetingsin Dublin Castle of Chairs of Committees in the Parliamentsof EU member states and the European Parliament - ameeting in April on the issue of Youth Unemployment and inJune on the Digital agenda. I hope that the outcome ofIreland's term of holding the Presidency is that a YouthGuarantee is adopted by the EU that would guarantee youngpeople unemployed for a certain length of time either a job,or a place on a suitable training programme. I will also urgethat the EU counter austerity by investment in education, andcapital works that will create jobs.

COMHAIRLE NA nÓG ADDRESSOIREACHTAS EDUCATION ANDSOCIAL PROTECTION COMMITTEEAs Chair of the OireachtasEducation and Social ProtectionCommittee I Chaired a meetingaddressed by representatives ofComhairle Na nÓg and Dail NanÓg who spoke of work theyhad done on the issue of the social, personal and healtheducation curriculum and sexuality and relationshipeducation and mental health promotion in schools. Therepresentatives gave evidence of a lack of consistency in thedelivery of these subjects in schools and the need forinitiatives to tackle this deficiency.

If you are a young person interested in having your say inpolitics you might like to find out more about the work bythe local Comhairle Na nÓg - South Dublin County who canbe contacted through the Community Services Departmentin South Dublin County Council. Phone 414900 (ext. 4183) oremail ncarton@sdublincoco.ie

Joanna Tuffy TD

HAVE YOUR SAY ON JUNIOR CERTREFORMS

Cllr Caitriona Jones, Cllr. Eamon Tuffy and I held aninformation session on planned Junior Certificate Reforms inmy constituency office this month. The proposed reforms thatare to be phased in beginning with English in 2014 andextending to all subjects for students beginning first year inSeptember 2017. The proposals include that 40% of the marksfor each subject will be awarded for school basedcomponents, such as oral exams in language studies, or workcompleted during second and third year. We were there toprovide information,answer questions and let members of thelocal community with an interest in Education have their say.We are now passing on feedback and questions to theMinister for Education and we intend to continue thisconsultation work with constituents. If you could not attendbut would like to talk to us about the planned reforms pleaseemail me or phone me or call to my office in Dispensary Lane,Lucan, Village.

HELP AVAILABLE FOR THOSE INMORTGAGE ARREARS AND DEBTThe Personal Insolvency Act hasbeen made law. This Act providesfor certain categories of people towork their way out of debt byreaching agreement with theircreditors. The new mechanismsunder this act are Debt relief, DebtSettlement Arrangements andPersonal Insolvency Arrangements.There is also a shorter period fordischarge from bankruptcybrought in under this legislation.The legislation won't provide theway out of debt for everyone butit will help some people in unsustainable debt. Under thelegislation an Insolvency Service is due to be established andwhen this happens debtors should be able to start accessingthe mechanisms for debt relief under this bill. There areservices that will advise people in debt and or mortgagearrears including the Free Legal Aid Service, MABS and theCitizens Information Service. Banks are also regulated by theCentral Bank and the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process.Some mortgage holders are eligible for Mortgage InterestSupplement through the Department of Social Protection.

If you’re affected by debt and need someone to point you inthe right direction please feel free to contact me for advice.

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OUT AND ABOUT IN LUCAN AND PALMERSTOWN

Cllr. Caitriona Jones and Joanna Tuffy TD atArchbishop Ryan SNS Art Exhibition

Cllr. Jones and Deputy Tuffy with Minister for Education& Skills Ruairi Quinn at Adamstown Community College

Michael Gannon and Michael Brennan at event to markMichael's long and distinguished service for Labour Movement

Eamon Gilmore, Michael Gannon, Jack O'Connor andJoanna Tuffy TD

Timebank launch by Cllr. Caitriona Jones as Mayor withPaul Rowe of Educate Together and Joanna Tuffy TD

Cllr. Jones, Robert Dowds TD, Joanna Tuffy TD and Cllr. EamonTUffy with Liffey Sound Maria Murphy at Launch by Liffey Sound

Labour's Tony Stafford takespart in Palmerstown Festival

Event to mark long and distinguished service of Michael Gannon Local activist Conor Reillyspeaks at Labour Conference