I propose to take Questions Nos. 1, 2 and 3 together.
The Government welcomes the report considered the report of the task force on the report A Crusade for Survival.
The Government welcome the report of the task force and the speed with which it brought forward its recommendations. I launched the report A Crusade for Survival in Castlebar on 3 February. The Government announced the establishment of the task force on 16 February; the members were appointed on 1 March and this report was submitted to the Government on 18 April 1994.
The terms of reference of the task force were: to assess the recommendations of the report and bring forward proposals to Government as to the actions that might be taken and to make recommendations to Government on the most appropriate permanent institutional response.
In establishing the task force the Government recognised the acute economic and social problems of the west arising from a declining population and from the projection that this population decline could continue, with the consequental social and economic implications, unless specific action is taken to arrest this process. The Government has accepted the task force recommendation that the goal of policy should be to achieve population stability in the region on a county basis at 1991 census levels by the end of the decade.
The task force identified a number of key issues of specific significance to the west and these are outlined in Chapter 2 of the report. I do not propose to give a detailed list in this reply but copies of the report have been made available to this House.
The Government shares the task force's view that the achievement of population stability requires the pursuit of appropriate national economic policy as articulated in the Programme for a Partnership Government, the National Development Plan and the Programme for Competitiveness and Work.
The implementation process in respect of the majority of recommendations made by the task force is either ongoing as part of existing sectoral policies or planned as part of the measures to be undertaken in the National Development Plan.
In addition, the Government has agreed to take immediate positive action in respect of a number of specific policy recommendations which were emphasised by the task force. These include action in relation to milk quotas, assessment of means for unemployment assistance purposes, continued promotion of the west for mobile investment, review of registration — standards policy and funding of the accommodation base, licensing and planning framework for the sea fishing and aquaculture sectors and a pilot urban renewal incentive scheme in a small number of towns in the west.
As regards the most appropriate institutional arrangements for achieving the objectives set out in A Crusade for Survival, the Government, on the recommendation of the task force, has approved the establishment of a partnership structure, the Western Development Partnership Board, within the local development programme. The strategic focus of the partnership board will be, through the development of an action plan, to provide direction to the activities of the various agencies and community-based organisations concerned with economic development in the west.
It is my intention that, as recommended by the task force, the board will be established and members appointed by Government by the end of June and that the inaugural meeting will take place as soon as possible after that date with the action plan to be compiled and published within 12 months. The Government will require the relevant agencies within the region to prepare detailed responses to this action plan and these will be monitored by the partnership board.
A sum of £50,000 is being made available as initial funding for the board in 1994. It is intended to cover administrative costs, including staffing and the initial stages of preparation of the action plan. The figure reflects the fact that the board will be in existence for less than six months in 1994. Funding in subsequent years will be settled in the normal way in the context of departmental Estimates and the allocation of EU funds for the local development programme over the years of the national plan.
The Government has no plans to establish a similar board for the Dublin region. The underlying economic conditions in the Dublin region are quite different from those in the west, where the task force identified major problems, arising from an imbalance in the demographic structure, in the threat to the viability of small local businesses and to the maintenance of effective public and social services catering for the remaining population. The Government recognises that local area or community groups no matter how well motivated or successful, cannot address such issues without a strategic approach at regional level.
The stark facts outlined in A Crusade for Survival are that a century ago the region boasted a population of 910,000 people, which by 1991, had fallen to 510,000. If current net out migration trends continue, the region stands to lose 110,000 people, one fifth of its total population during the next 20 years.
The population in Dublin in the years 1986 to 1991 has been stable in contrast to the west.
The economy in the Dublin region is much more viable. The implementation of policies enunciated in the national plan with the support of EU Structural Funds will further develop enterprise and employment in the Dublin region. I recognise the seriousness of the unemployment problems in Dublin, both in scale and in terms of the extent of long term unemployment. The challenge is to develop policies which enable the unemployed to benefit from the economic developments occurring in the Dublin region. This objective will be significantly advanced by the Government's policies regarding the tax treatment of those at work. Equally relevant is the fact that the local development programme will support the creation and expansion of small businesses through support from enterprise boards of which there are four in the Dublin city and county areas, while the particular needs of the designated disadvantaged areas will be met through an integrated socio-economic development approach operated by partnership companies. There are five such partnerships in Dublin at present, and two of these are being extended under the local development programme. A further five new areas in Dublin have been designated.
I do not consider that a further structure in the Dublin region would add value to the initiatives already in place. Over the period of the national plan these initiatives will be assessed and evaluated and the Government can then consider if the policy objectives are being fully achieved or if further initiatives are necessary.