Madam, – The McCarthy report’s proposed cuts in funding for the community and voluntary sector will effectively amount to an additional reduction in funding for essential public services in areas such as health, education and welfare, which have already been singled out for savage cuts elsewhere in the report.

The report fails to acknowledge that community and voluntary organisations deliver essential public services in these areas for very vulnerable people. Also, many of the organisations delivering these services depend on funding from the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs – one of the government departments targeted for closure in the report.

The proposed cut of 64 per cent in the allocation for community and voluntary sector supports, such as the local community grants scheme, the community scheme for older people and supports for volunteering will weaken community and voluntary organisations’ capacity to deliver essential services to the most vulnerable people in society. Moreover, if implemented, the proposed abolition of the Rapid scheme, a 59 per cent reduction in the allocation for local and community and development programmes, and a 20 per cent cut in funding for the community services programme would weaken the support services available to the growing number of people in need.

We are also deeply concerned about the immediate cessation of implementation of the recommendations issued by the Taskforce on Active Citizenship and the proposed discontinuation of the Active Citizenship Office. This proposal is highly irregular given that Government declared the promotion of active citizenship a national priority in 2007. We believe active citizenship and social entrepreneurship will be key to both economic and social recovery, and that the relatively minor saving that could be gained though the implementation of this proposal (€100,000) is far outweighed by the long-term benefits of the active citizenship initiative.

It is not acceptable that the Government’s ambition is limited to “minimising” the impact of the proposed cuts on the most vulnerable in Irish society. Government must commit to actively protecting the vulnerable in the current crisis and taking the decisions that this commitment requires. We cannot afford to cripple our community and voluntary “infrastructure” at a time when an increasing number of people are being forced to depend on the services we provide. We call on the Government to ensure that an appropriate social, as well as economic, analysis is made of the proposed options for cuts before decisions are made. – Yours, etc,

DEIRDRE GARVEY,

Chief executive officer,

The Wheel,

Irish Social Finance Centre,

Grattan Crescent,

Inchicore, Dublin 8.