The Government delegate in the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana, and the Minister of Economy, Knowledge and Employment of the Government of the Canary Islands, Elena Máñez, have presented today to collaborating institutions, such as the Island Council of La Palma or the fourteen municipalities of the island, and to socioeconomic agents, the main lines that will be addressed with the 30 million euros included in the General State Budgets for 2023 for a new Integral Employment Plan for La Palma.
The government delegate praised the functioning of the inter-administrative and public-private collaboration and recalled that the State had an “enormous agility” to enable an Extraordinary Employment Plan, “and that it contributed 63 million euros for the employment, training and restructuring of palm companies, which we now reissue with 30 million euros more and to which must be added other lines related to employment, such as the ERTE, with which we have helped 1,675 people, for 20 million euros, or the aid to autonomous people, with which we now help 380, although there were more than 1.2 billion euros and 6.5 million that we have allocated”.
Anselmo Pestana highlighted the state contribution for the island of La Palma and the speed of its response: “the aid to the palm tree population already exceeds 600 million euros, of which 470 correspond to the State and the rest to the Autonomous Community and the Cabildo”.
“La Palma already records data on the pre-pandemic situation in terms of unemployment. The action of the Government of Spain has been key to maintaining the productive fabric of the island and that these data are achieved,” he said.
For her part, Elena Máñez explained how, after signing the agreement with the State Public Employment Service (SEPE), last Monday she took to the General Employment Council, also held in La Palma, and where its main lines were approved, “which deepen the good results obtained last year, thanks to the collaboration of all the palm institutions and the business, trade union and third sector organizations that managed the programs.”
Comprehensive Employment Plan
Within the new Employment Plan, the most far-reaching measure is undoubtedly the continuation of the Extraordinary Employment Plans for the recovery and rehabilitation of affected environments. With these employment plans, which once again focus mainly on the municipalities directly affected by the volcanic flows, effective work is developed, which allows the contracting people to acquire training and professional experience, with actions aimed at the recovery of the island and other works or services of general interest. To carry out this action, an estimated allocation of 20,600,000 euros is foreseen.
The rest of the projects, with the exception of the FP Dual project, which will serve to train people who need to acquire new skills or wish to requalify to change occupation, are also continuity of the lines initiated in 2.022, such as the restructuring of companies, the payment of ERTE, attention to disability or training in alternation with employment.
Supports 2022-23
The councilor of the Government of the Canary Islands thanked the State “for the enormous sensitivity shown in understanding the need to continue contributing, one more year, to the restructuring of the palm production fabric”.
Finally, Elena Máñez has stressed that this plan allowed to hire, help and train more than 4,700 people and hundreds of companies last year, estimating a little more than 2,000 people who will be able to benefit from this exercise, while explaining that her department helped 567 companies that were forced to cease activity due to the eruption, with more than 16 million euros in aid to alleviate their losses.
In this regard, the Minister of Economy, Knowledge and Employment of the Government of the Canary Islands has advanced that another five million will be invested for this purpose this year, as the companies in this situation have been reduced to 242, and has announced that another 5 million euros will be allocated to a new line of aid for business investment.