Brookfield youth centre closure
Deputy Paul Murphy described the sudden redundancy of staff and closure of Brookfield Youth and Community Centre, warning that vital community and early-intervention services would be lost. The Chair said it was more suited to a Topical Issue and the Taoiseach said the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs would contact the Deputy.
There is a commitment in the programme for Government to tackle child poverty by increasing community based early intervention programmes. With one hour's notice the five full-time employees in Brookfield Youth and Community Centre, which provides precisely those vital services to the local community, were told last Friday that they were being made redundant and the not-for-profit company that runs the centre was closing and that the services would be gone.
Comment on this
They bravely occupied the centre and the community has rallied around. Would the Government agree that the council should intervene to ensure that the jobs and services are maintained?
