Community and Voluntary Pillar of Social Partnership meeting with Minister for Finance and Minister

Published: Thursday, October 27, 2011

The Community and Voluntary Pillar of Social Partnership, of which NWCI is a member, had a meeting this week with the Minister for Finance Mr. Michael Noonan and Mr. Brendan Howlin, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The NWCI used the opportunity to ask that the impact of Budget 2012 should be assessed for its impact on women as it is vital that the burden of our debt is not further pushed on the shoulders of women. The NWCI reinforced the calls from the Children's Rights Alliance not to make any further cuts to Child Benefit and to restore the universality of the payment. The NWCI also urged the Minister not to cut funding for locally based women's projects and extend the contract for the Women's Local and Community Development Programme to the National Collective of Community Based Women's Networks for the next three years. Finally the NWCI asked the Minister to protect and increase funding for existing specialist services working on violence against women in the upcoming budget.