I was on The Week in Politics last night, in a brief segment on FÁS (in my capacity as a former board member).  I am concerned that any review of FAS, which in general I welcome, must not be used as an excuse to close down Community Employment (CE) schemes across the country that are doing so much good work. In many cases these schemes give important “lifeskills” training as the first step back into the world of work for people who need this extra support. They have also proved to be invaluable tools for communities given the poor level of support that these bodies receive directly from the State.

I served two terms as a member of the Board of FAS, and was also involved locally in establishing several such schemes and helping many Community/Youth and Residents groups develop schemes for themselves. These include the widely read News 4, which is one of the longest lasting genuinely community newspapers.  I founded News 4 with Ann Ingle back in 1988 and it has given a significant “break” into journalism for a number of now prominent journalists.

I think it’s time for a radical rethink on the formation of State Boards.  The present model of making up state boards by appointing a third of the members from ICTU, a third from IBEC and a third from the Civil Service/ voluntary sector is no longer the way forward.  It has contributed to a certain “club” atmosphere that is beneficial neither to individual boards nor to the public sector as a whole.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 29th, 2008 at 14:50 and is filed under Blog Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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