According to RTE, the Department of Social Protection has confirmed that Minister O Cuiv's extension of existing 'voluntary work' schemes will become compulsory. This provision was not in the initial Departmental press release but was touted strongly by the sunday papers. Whether this was always the plan or the Department has been bounced into this populist approach, this is an act of despair and even threatens to damage the job prospects of those who take part. After 25 years and hundreds of millions on spent on 'labour market measures' the Government seems to ahve learnt nothing.

Of course it is a good idea that people who are unemployed should volunteer for good causes, and it would be a very good idea if the Dept of Social Protection made it easier for them to do so. It is good because useful work can be done, it will help overcome isolation and it looks good on your CV.

But what does it look like if you have on your CV that you participated in 'that scheme which is designed to flush out the workshy and the dole cheats?

The ESRI has repeatedly shown that public attitudes to the Community Employment Scheme mean that people who include participating in such schemes on their CVS are more likely to remain long-term unemployed than similarly qualified people who did not. Why? The ESRI argues that it is because years of association of this scheme with measures to tackle to dole fraud has stigmatized the scheme and the people who, in good faith, participate in it. And CE is voluntary! What does it say about you that you participated in a scheme that was compulsory?

It is unfortunate that Minister O Cuiv has been enticed down this counterproductive and divisive route. He is capable of imaginative 'out of the box' thinking, but this one is a tried-and-failed rabble rouser. It is not even clear that this is what he planned to announce in the first place. There is time still for him to clarify that volunteering means volunteering.  Opening up the paths for people to volunteer is a good thing but it does nothing to tackle the root cause of the problem - there are not enough paying jobs for people who need to pay their mortgages or rent, and feed their families and want to pay their way in the world. Where is the Government policy to tackle this?

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