Further to the first Regional Discussion Forumand as part of the ongoing series of meetingsfor welfare rights information providers, thefirst meetings for affiliates in the Longfordand Limerick regions took place on the 19thand 24th of May respectively, and a secondRegional meeting for the Dublin area tookplace on the 28th June.

All the meetings were very well attended.Presentations on the theme for the meetings ‘MakingWork Pay’ were given and each presentation wasfollowed by an open forum discussion, with particularreference to childcare issues, habitual residence,secondary benefits threshold and medical cardincome guidelines.

The feedback from the meetings has been verypositive and the INOU would like to thank all thosewho took part in the meetings for making them asuccess, in particular the staff from both theE.D.I.C Centre in Longford and the LimerickResource Centre for the Unemployed.

Three further regional meetings and a Nationalmeeting are planned for later in the year.

For further information on the Discussion Forums orthe work of the Development Project please do nothesitate to contact Joe McDonagh by telephone on01 8560088 or email at development@inou.ie

Updated Leaflets'Know Your

Welfare Rights'

A further 3000 copies of the Leaflet 'Know YourWelfare Rights' has now been reprinted. The updatedJuly 2005 version of the leaflet which is designed forindividuals who have recently or are about to becomeunemployed, contains up to date information onUnemployment Benefit (UB) / UnemploymentAssistance (UA), Collecting Your Payment,UB/UA Payment Rates, Credited PRSI Contributions,

Secondary Benefits,Habitual Residence and achecklist with what youneed to do when: youbecome unemployed,when making a claim, aswell as retaining your UBor UA.

Should you requirecopies of the leafletplease do not hesitateto contact JoeMcDonagh, Welfare toWork DevelopmentOfficer by telephone on01 8560088 or email atdevelopment@inou.ie

1INOU Welfare to WorkDevelopment Project

Quarterlyletter

letter

INOU Welfare to WorkDevelopment Project

Issue 4 Summer 2005

E NEWSEE NEWSEE NEWS

IntroductionThis is the 4th in a series of Quarterly Email

Newsletters produced as part of the work of the

Welfare to Work Development Project.

Some of the Issues covered include:

Regional Discussion Forums

Launch of the 12th Edition of 'Working For Work'

Sustaining Progress

Regional DiscussionForums

Joe McDonagh INOU, Mary Kenny and Mary Quane, St. Mary’sArea Integrated Development Ltd at the Limerick RegionalDiscussion Forum.

Redundancy FiguresUnfortunately there have been no redundancy figures available from the Department of Enterprise, Tradeand Employment from the end of January 2005, until June 2005. This is due to changes to theDepartment's system in the way in which they compile redundancy figures. The Department have nowproduced figures to show Actual redundancies rather than Proposed redundancies.

A redundancy situation generally occurs where, for a variety of reasons an employee's job no longer existsand they are not replaced. Thus the emphasis is on the position and not the individual. Employers areobliged by law to pay compensation to employees who are dismissed by reason of redundancy.

The table below shows the amount of Actual redundancies which occurred from January - June 2005.

Actual Redundancies January - June 2005

Jan Feb Mar Apr May June Total

2005 1,957 1,983 2,014 1,866 2,161 1,661 11,669

It is important to recognise however, the limitations of these notified redundancies. They do not includeemployees with less than two years' eligible service with an employer, employees who are under 16 yearsof age or who have reached the qualifying age for old age pension.

The table below shows the actual amount of redundancies, which occurred between 1995 - 2004.

Actual Redundancies 1995 - 2004

Year 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

Figure 10,980 9,490 10,866 12,028 11,916

Actual Redundancies 1995 - 2004

Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Figure 10,733 16,668 24,487 25,874 24,969

These figures are made available through the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment andmaybe subject to some changes due to the way in which the figures are compiled

2INOU Welfare to WorkDevelopment Project

Issue 4 Summer 2005

Sustaining Progress and BeyondThe country is now entering the final months of the current social partnership agreement - Sustaining Progress.The economic circumstances that prevailed at the time that Sustaining Progress was negotiated impacted onthe final outcome of the agreement. The most successful outcome was the Government's clear commitment toachieving the target of setting the lowest rate of social welfare at €150 (in 2002 terms) by 2007. The full textof this article see the Bulletin PDF version at http://www.inou.ie/download/pdf/bulletin_june_05.pdf

Wel fa re to Work Deve lopment P ro jec t – Reg iona l D i s cus s ion Forums

3INOU Welfare to WorkDevelopment Project

Issue 4 Summer 2005

For further information on the

discussion Forums or on the work

of the Development Project please

do not hesitate to contact Joe

McDonagh by telephone on:

01 856 0088 or email at:

development@inou.ie

John Farrell, INOU, and Pat Deedigan,

Southill Community Action Centre.

Participants at the Limerick

Discussion Forum.

Leo Cox and Marcella O’Connor

EDIC Longford with Joe

McDonagh of the INOU.

Michael Reeves, Mullingar Congress Centre and Michael

Downey, Co. Sligo Leader Partnership pictured at the Regional

Discussion Forum in Longford.

Launch of 12th Editionof Working for Work

Mr. Séamus Brennan, T.D. Minister for Social

and Family Affairs, was present to officially

launch the 12th Edition of Working for Work,

at the INOU offices in Araby House on

Thursday 26th May.

At the launchthe Ministersaid: 'Theobvious need fora comprehensiveand co-ordinatedinformation packwhich wouldenableunemployedpeople tocompare thevarious supportschemes andprogrammesavailable tothem provided

the springboard for this impressive publication. Itunravels many of the more complex issues andgives practical examples to convey the essentialdetails of each programme, together withinformation and guidance on how to access theprogrammes and where to seek furtherinformation and help when required. In that wayit is a valuable guidebook that will help manyalong the route from welfare to work'.

This edition expanded the scope of the publicationto include detailed information on Social Welfarerates of payment, FÁS and CommunityEmployment payments, Income Tax rates andbands, Rent Supplement levels and protectionafforded tenants under the Residential TenanciesAct.

To order copies of “Working for Work” please

contact the INOU on 01 856 0088

4INOU Welfare to WorkDevelopment Project

Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, Araby House, 8 North Richmond Street, Dublin 1. Tel: (01) 856 0088 Fax: (01) 856 0090 E-mail: info@inou.ie

Upcoming Events foryour Diary

September - Annual Delegate Conference- Welfare Rights Training Calendar

runs from September 29th -November 24th

October- Dublin Regional Discussion Forum

on 25th October- Produce and deliver Autumn issue

of Email Newsletter

November- Regional Discussion Forums to be

arranged- Longford and Cork Regional

Discussion Forums on 15th and22nd October respectively

letter

letter

E NEWSEE NEWSE E NEWS

Should you require moreinformation on the work ofthe Development Project,please do not hesitate tocontact Joe McDonagh,Welfare to WorkDevelopment Officer byTelephone on 01 8560088 oremail atdevelopment@inou.ie

Issue 4 Summer 2005

Know your Welfare Rights

Question: Has the Minimum wage beenincreased?

Answer: From the 1st May 2005 the National

Minimum Wage (NMW) increased to €7.65 an

hour.The full text of this article see the Bulletin

PDF version at

http://www.inou.ie/download/pdf/bulletin_june_05.pdf

INOU ANNUAL DELEGATE CONFERENCEWEDNESDAY 28th SEPTEMBER 2005 SPEAKER: DAVID BEGG, ICTUCHIEF O’NEILL’S HOTEL GENERAL SECRETARY

EXPLORING WELFARE, WORK, EDUCATION AND TRAINING OPTIONS FOR UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE

The INOU is a national organisation of unemployed people and groups committed to fighting unemployment. You can play a part in this movement – fill in the application form inside this book.

WORKING FOR WORK is a handbook for people who are unemployed. It outlines your rights and entitlements with regard to your social welfare payments. It also provides valuable information and advice on your options and opportunities in relation to looking for work and further education or training.

Working For Working For

ISBN NUMBER 1-901909-06-9

YOUR NEAREST LOCAL INFORMATION CENTRE IS

Working For

12th Edition 2005

12th Edition

May 2005

Irish NationalOrganisation ofthe Unemployed

• Social Welfare Rates • Tax Rates• Rent Supplements • Plus additional information

New in this edition