Poverty and Quality Services to top agenda at INOU Annual Conference

5 Oct 2000

Unemployment activists from all over the Republic and Northern Ireland will gather in Dublin tomorrow (6/10/00) for the Annual Delegate Conference of the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed. The meeting comes one week before the Organisation launches its demands for Budget 2001, and will be opened by Seamus Healy T.D.

Commenting in advance of the meeting Barrie McLatchie, Chairperson of the INOU said "The effects of inflation on the day to day lives of the people we represent will be a consistent theme throughout the day, as will the quality of services and programmes available for unemployed people. Any politician or economic commentator who is complacent about unemployment would do well to remember that thousands of people, in communities throughout the country are still bearing the brunt of decades of high unemployment."

Delegates at the conference will begin work on two major new projects being run by the INOU. The first examines how Community Employment can be improved to best meet the needs of participants, and also the effects of the reduction in CE numbers on services in the Community sector. The second project will study the experiences of unemployed people from Ballyfermot and Kilkenny, where an intensive Employment Action Plan project was piloted.

"Labour market programmes should be judged by their success in getting people out of poverty and into decent, sustainable employment. The INOU believe that actual 'full employment' is achievable in Ireland, but with 37,000 people on labour market programmes, 74,900 actively seeking work and another 79,000 facing huge barriers to participation; we still have a long way to go."

ENDS
Venue: Conference Hall, Marino Institute, Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9.Opening address 10.45 am.

Further information
Tony Monks, General Secretary 087 249 6066
Noeleen Hartigan, Press Officer 087 616 7689