Ministers Visit Centres Offering Employment Support

Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection, Kevin Humphreys T.D and local Labour TD Ciara Conway, have visited a number of centres offering employment support for jobseekers across Waterford City.

Deputy Conway said: "Tackling unemployment remains the single biggest issue for Waterford. I was delighted to show new Minister for Labour Activation, Kevin Humphreys, around the city to see for himself how the city is fighting back. The Viking CE scheme is particular good example of this. Many of the participants on the scheme, which is working to bring the Viking triangle back to its former glory, have a construction background and are getting hands on conservation experience as well as the opportunity to complete a degree in the subject at WIT.

"While the national economy is showing signs of recovery, as a Waterford TD I remain determined to see that this trend translates into real jobs across the county. As part of this we have to make sure all that all jobseekers are equipped with the skills they need to be able to take up new jobs as they come on stream.

Speaking on his visit to the Waterford Intreo centre, Minister Humphreys said: "There is a dedicated locally based network of staff at the Intreo Centre here in Waterford who, in addition to offering income support to unemployed people living in Waterford, offer support to employers in job matching and CV screening. This has shown to be a positive step with local employers including Tesco, Musgrave, Eishtec and Glanbia availing of the initiative."

Overall, there are some 46 Community Employment projects in Waterford, 22 projects in Waterford city and 24 others throughout County Waterford, employing a total of 927 participants. Four new projects are currently underway in Waterford since late last year. U Casadh is a project under the special drugs Community Employment strand set up to provide employment and training opportunities for people in recovery from drug misuse. This project employs 2 supervisors and 24 participants.

The Tramore Community Radio project in Tramore currently employs one supervisor and 31 participants. This project was developed to provide employment and training opportunities includes Radio, Environmental, Childcare, Tourism, Youth, Cultural, and Community based activities.

The Waterford Area Partnership Traditional Skills project was developed to provide opportunities for participants to train to construct traditional crafts from the Viking period to benefit local tourism and festival events in the city of Waterford. This project employs 25 participants and one supervisor.

(CD/IT)