Sir, - In his letter of October 25th, Dermot Ahern, Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, made some profound statements, which for the benefit of all unemployed citizens of Ireland in particular are worthy of restating:
1. "This Government is not willing to write off any person as unemployable and we are determined to match skills with employment vacancies."
2. "Going forward, we are absolutely committed to making certain that every single unemployed person in this country is offered every opportunity and support to get back to work."
Since the National Anti-Poverty Strategy identified unemployment as the prime contributor to poverty, the Society of St Vincent de Paul in Knocknacarra, Galway applauds the Minister for making these statements on behalf of Government at this time.
A recent EU-funded study by academics from eight member-states provided evidence that throws doubt on conventional wisdom about the experience of unemployment. Contrary to many neo-liberal economists, they found "no evidence that any substantial proportion of the unemployed had lost their commitment to employment". Indeed, if commitment to work is the relevant yardstick they showed that the unemployed were more committed to employment than people with jobs. Even those unemployed for more than 12 months register a higher commitment to the work ethic than the employed.
In our capacity as a voluntary organisation, we interface on a very regular basis with thousands of citizens country-wide who wish to take up employment but cannot do so for a variety of genuine reasons. Since I and my colleagues within the society can articulate their present dilemma, we are keen to meet Mr Dermot Ahern, with the intent of mobilising a lot of talent at zero cost to the Government and within a short time-frame. - Yours, etc.,
Denis O'Brien, President, Conference of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, Knocknacarra, Galway.