GATE WAY LABOUR ACTIVATATION SCHEME FOR DARNDALE PARK

GATE WAY LABOUR ACTIVATATION SCHEME FOR DARNDALE PARK

City Council to roll out 'Gateway' Labour Activation Scheme in Darndale Early in the new year Dublin City Council is to roll out 'Gateway', a Labour Activation Scheme, in Darndale Park. For those of you who are not quite sure what a 'Labour Activation Scheme' is, or have only heard of the 'Gateway programme' in passing, it is worthwhile giving some background. Background Labour Activation Schemes are essentially a range of programmes targeted primarily at the long-term unemployed (over 12 months on a jobseeker payment) and recipients of other welfare payments, including One Parent Family Payment and Disability Allowance. Over 74,000 participants are currently involved in a range of programmes, including the traditional Community Employment Schemes and Gateway, which was introduced in the 2013 Budget and is a County and City Council (collectively known as Local Authorities - LAs) work placement scheme. It is designed to provide short-term quality and suitable work opportunities for those who are unemployed for more than 24 months. With just 3,000 places nationally, it is a very small part of the states total labour activation measures. Local Authorities are the employers for all participants on the scheme, bringing their experience and wide range of work types to the table. Unlike other schemes, as employees, they pay a Class A PRSI contributions which assists in establishing an entitlement to a full range of short-term benefits, including jobseeker s benefit, illness benefit, maternity benefit and to long-term benefits including the state pension (contributory). They are entitled to a minimum rate of 218 per week and participants are subject to standard income tax, payroll deductions etc.

The origins Darndale and the surrounding areas have a long tradition of using Community Employment (CE) as a means of carrying out essential community work in the area, in the realms of environment, arts, culture and the maintenance and operation of community facilities such as crèches. In the Darndale, Belcamp, Moatview and adjoining areas, there are around 450 CE places. Sponsoring groups include Darndale Belcamp Initiative Ltd, Darndale/Belcamp Integrated Childcare Services, Moatview/Fairfield Development Association (MFDA), Northside Travellers Support, Rehabilitation and Support Programme (RASP) and the Dean Swift Sports Club. In early in 2013, a local community group was established in Darndale to improve the situation in Darndale Park which had declined in recent years and had begun to suffer from many problems including low utilisation, dumping and other anti-social behaviour particularly from quad bikes and horses.

Darndale Park, which was developed to its current layout as a neighbourhood park during the late 1990s, is a fine amenity with enormous potential. It consists of an area of 13.1 hectares (33.4 Acres) with a children s playground, playing pitches, tree planted boundaries and a significant water feature. The latter provides an important series of freshwater habitats and wetland and is also an important local fresh water fishing facility. There are approximately 2.3 km of surfaced recreational pathways throughout the park and a dressing room facility has been added in the recent past.

As part of the work to reverse the decline in the park, initial efforts were concentrated on the playground and a Playground Renewal Group was formed from local people. By the end of that year, this had developed into the Darndale Park Renewal Group and a steering group under the chair of the Assistant Area Manager, Jim Kelly involving the public representatives, local residents, local groups and staff from the various sections was formed.

A visible presence identified as key It was soon realised that both physical and operational improvements were required to bring back the full potential of the park to the Darndale Community. Whilst the considerable voluntary input was important, it was felt that a more permanent presence would help to deter the anti-social behaviour, as well as catering for the general upkeep of the park and supporting local sporting and community events. Although direct staff resources were not available to have a constant presence in the park, both we and the local community believe it would help alleviate anti-social behaviour.

Community Employment options considered Following through research, it was decided to seek sanction from the Department of Social Protection for a CE scheme and after various consultations it was decided to work in partnership with existing CE scheme sponsors, rather start from scratch and meetings/discussions were held with some of the local providers. A proposal emerged from these discussions from Moatview/Fairfield Development Association (MFDA) which was modelled on a very successful pilot project undertaken in Priorswood Park. The Priorswood park model as it became known, was a Community Employment (CE) scheme operated by the Dean Swift Sports Club with 18 participants. It was decided to seek sanction for a similar scheme from the Department of Social Protection (DSP) with 15 participants but working with the MFDA. In April 2014, an application was submitted to the Department of Social Protection (DSP) for an extension of their existing CE scheme exclusively for Darndale Park. Unfortunately, sanction for the project was not forthcoming from the DSP, as the funding for the additional places "far outweighed the budgeted numbers available".

Detailed planning leads to recruitment to the Gateway scheme However the door was not fully closed as the Department of Social Protection said that "the application had been referred to Dublin City Council for consideration under the Gateway Project". As noted above, Gateway is intended to assist the personal and social development of participants by providing short-term work opportunities with the objective of bridging the gap between unemployment and re-entering the workforce. Under Gateway, the work opportunities are intended to benefit the local area and are identified and provided by the Council. As part of its commitments to Government in respect of the labour activation agenda, Dublin City Council (DCC) has undertaken to place 295 participants. Having realised that Gateway was the only community employment option open, the Community & Social Development (C&SD) team engaged with the local community and public representatives, to work out the many issues with this scheme. One of the issues identified was recruitment as the DPS normal method was 'random selection. This led to a large number of candidates being called and only a small percentage making it through to final appointment. Working with Department of Social Protection and the Human Resources of Dublin City Council, the Community & Social Development Team developed a model of self referral and an open interview based in a local venue. This proved very successful and the recruitment event was held in the Darndale Sports Hall on 5th November. Some 35 candidates were deemed suitable by the interview panels and are currently going through the necessary Garda vetting process. We continue to receive further self referrals through DSP and it looks like we will be in a position to get a full complement of 20 participants in place early in the New year.

Key elements of Darndale Park Gateway proposal The perception of any possible coercion in the Gateway scheme was dispelled by positive reinforcing of the idea that it is a locally managed project for local people for a local facility. Participants were targeted from the Belcamp, Moatview, Darndale, Fairfield and Priorswood area as well as from the travelling community. Self-referral was encouraged and the objects of the scheme was published locally and communicated through local groups. Leading to the local recruitment event. A locally based supervisor was identified who will be key to the success of the proposal. Duties of the participants will not infringe on the core work undertaken by Park staff in Darndale but rather focus on complimentary activities, community activity support and a physical high visibility presence in the park. It should be seen as project rather than the normal labour activation type scheme and this will allow key community objectives to be achieved and local events and activities encouraged, improving park utilisation. Induction, H&S and basic training to be provided by Parks as will equipment such as tools, high visibility and other safety equipment. We wish all the participants well in the new role where they will be ambassadors for their community, serving their community.