Page 1484 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 6 June 2007
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MRS DUNNE: in her answer to the question. But my question still remains: what are you doing to address the skills shortage amongst those people who work in the community sector?
MS GALLAGHER: As I have already outlined, the government has provided generous indexation to the community sector. That is what the community sector rated as their No 1 priority in terms of future injections into their areas so that they could meet some of the costs of wage increases and ensure that their staff were looked after, in fact, to ensure that their staff could be retained in the community sector. We delivered on that commitment this year. That will be continued into next year.
There are further initiatives in education and training. I am working with the childcare sector around training for childcare staff. We are seeing large numbers of people come into training but not stay in the sector. We will further progress the work of the community sector task force, which I now have responsibility for, in terms of looking at how we can best provide support around employment conditions and industrial relations advice, which seems to be an area where it is in the government’s interests to provide that extra support to organisations, particularly small stand-alone organisations.
We are dealing with a number of consortia in the community sector over the desire to rent some of the surplus school capacity. Minister Hargreaves is progressing that work. Again, it is in our interests to ensure that, where there is a desire by community organisations to collocate to streamline some of their overheads, they are able to do that and reinvest some of the extra money that they may be paying on private rental arrangements back into service delivery.
This is a continuing piece of work. There are a number of initiatives in the budget, including extra money for training to support apprentices and trainees through the CIT, but also through private providers, if they choose. Basically, if you want to do training, you get paid. It is a demand-based system. That does not exclude the community sector.
Mr Smyth: But what are you doing?
MS GALLAGHER: I have just given you two and a half minutes.
MR SPEAKER: She is busy answering Mrs Dunne’s question, Mr Smyth. That is what she is doing.
MS GALLAGHER: What makes it uncomfortable is the fact that I actually am answering the question and you are not happy with the fact that we are dealing with these issues and responding to them. There is a list of ones that I can think of off the top of my head. I am sure there is a whole range more where we are working at the departmental level with staff, but they are the ones that I am aware of that come under my responsibility.
We will progress, as I said, to the community sector this year. There is more work to be done. We have continued our support of the community sector. That is reflected in
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