This article is from page 26 of the 2013-06-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 26 JPG
CLARE County Council will be allowed to break the recruitment embargo later this year to take on 26 new staff members – many of whom will work as ‘street ambassadors’ in towns across the county.
The scheme, which is part of the government’s Pathway to Work programme, was criticised at last nights meeting of Clare County Council, for not offering unemployed people any realistic career progress.
Cllr Patricia McCarthy (IND) branded the scheme as flawed, because the majority of position mentioned are unskilled and offer little options for further training.
The new street ambassadors, as well as roads and water operatives and some clerical staff, will be picked at random by the Department of Social Protection – with a pool of candidates then being sent forward for interview by Clare County Council.
The staff members will be employed on a part-time basis on a fixed term, 22 month contract.
To qualify, candidates must be on Job Seekers Allowance for more than two years.
“We should have been told about the job positions on off long before this stage. I have serious reservation about this,” said Cllr McCarthy (IND).
Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) argued that working as a street ambassador could give a candidate confidence as well as other skills that might be useful for obtaining future employment.
“I think this is a very worthwhile project,” he said.
According to Eddie Power of the council’s Human resources Department, the local authority will have the final say in who is hired to take up the position.