Empowerment

“For every member of staff freshly recruited, another experienced staff member is walking out the door. The situation is both unacceptable and unsustainable,” says Trade union Fórsa, complaining about unequal pay and conditions. Last Thursday (Jan 26) the trade union moved towards “indefinite strike action” involving hundreds of its members working in community and voluntary sector health services across the country. It is not immediate, however, nor is every county certain to be impacted.

Managers in the community and voluntary sector are warning of a crisis in the recruitment and retention of staff, as salaries in the sector have stagnated due to lack of funding.

An overdue document was launched by Minister of State for Community Development, Joe O’Brien, with help from Ivan Cooper of The Wheel and Rachel Doyle of Community Work Ireland, on October 19. It was overdue in so much as it could be helpful for a couple living together for years, even if they sometimes drive each other bananas, to see what they actually agree on. The seven-page document outlines an agreed set of values and principles to be used by central and local government, as well as state bodies, for collaboration and partnership when working with groups in the community and voluntary sector.

The Department of Rural and Community Development issued a brief statement in response to a query from this publication on the issue of recruitment and retention in the community sector.

"The idea is that in supporting a mother to empower herself and her family, you lift a family out of poverty forever." - Maria Flanagan, An Cosán 

“Pay and conditions are so poor compared to Primary School Teachers or SNAs," an early years childcare worker tell us. Katie Barr reports:

Hosting refugees from Ukraine is easier than you think, but it is more likely to be successful if you take advice first. And if you wish to be matched with a suitable person, it can happen quickly, as organisations such as Doras now provide a matching service.

The increase in domestic violence during lockdowns and the murder this year of a woman while out jogging, in Tullamore, Co. Offaly, led to a national enquiry about gaps in the level of support provided to women at risk of violence. Offaly Domestic Violence Support Service was set up in the aftermath of a previous deadly incident in 1997 and it does remarkable and mostly unseen work supporting female and male victims. Here, Ray Lucey speaks to manager Anne Clarke.