Mary Wallace
Question:5 Miss M. Wallace asked the Minister for Social Welfare the proposed timetable for the publication, consideration and funding of the White Paper and Charter on the role of the voluntary sector. [4106/96]
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - White Paper on Voluntary Activity.
Ivor Callely
Question:22 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Social Welfare the current situation regarding the White Paper on voluntary and community activity; the timescale associated with this White Paper; the discussions on consultations, if any, with such groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3968/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 and 22 together.
While it was my intention to seek Government approval to have the White Paper published by the end of 1995, due to the introduction of a number of new policy initiatives within the Department it was not possible to do so.
I intend to have a draft circulated shortly to the relevant Government Departments for their observations. When I have received these observations I will be in a better position to say when the White Paper might be published.
I am concerned about the delay in publishing this important document which is long awaited by the voluntary organisations. Last October in reply to a question I tabled the Minister promised that the White Paper would be published by the end of last year. It was virtually finalised before the previous Minister, Deputy Woods, left office. The Minister explained he wanted to make an input to the document and to consider the final draft before publication, but that was 15 months ago. The delay in its publication is not fair to voluntary organisations. Will the Minister explain why it has taken 15 months to clarify a document which was virtually finalised before the former Minister left office?
As the Deputy said, I have been a Minister since the beginning of 1995. The Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Government decided in 1990 to publish a White Paper on voluntary activity to set out a clear framework for partnership between the State and the voluntary sector and to develop a cohesive strategy to support voluntary activity, and preliminary work was undertaken in that regard. The publication of that White Paper in 1994 was incorporated as an objective in the Programme for Competitiveness and Work, but it was not published then. This area needs to be properly addressed. Previous Ministers for Social Welfare took a considerable length of time to develop their thinking on the matter, up to four years from the date on which it was first promised to the date the former Minister, Deputy Woods, proposed to present a draft document to Government. As I indicated in previous replies, when I became Minister I considered the draft White Paper did not adequately reflect the various developments that had occurred in the four years it had taken to draft it to that point. As a new Minister I considered it appropriate to revise the draft at that stage and I have been doing that during the past year. As I indicated, I hope to be in a position shortly to circulate the revised draft to my Government colleagues for their observations and, on receipt of those, I will present the final draft to Government for approval.
I am very concerned about the Minister's use of the word "shortly". We have heard many promises from the Department and about delivery on them shortly. The Minister should realise that he is the Minister for Social Welfare and he must not constantly blame Fianna Fáil for delays in his Department. The Minister is 15 months in the Department and he has not made progress on many issues. The disabled person's maintenance allowance is a case in point.
I would prefer if the Deputy would proceed by way of a direct, brief and relevant question.
Delay in publishing this White Paper represents yet another delay in the Department. The Minister must stop blaming the previous Administration. This White Paper was drafted and virtually at a final stage when the Minister took office. He has many advisers——
Earning £1,500 a day.
——six more than the previous Minister. The draft White Paper was virtually completed 15 months ago and now we have been told it will be "completed shortly".
Deputy, that should be adequate. This is not a time for speech making.
The Minister has not replied to my specific and direct question on the funding for the White Paper provided in the budget.
Perhaps the Minister should be given an opportunity to reply.
If the charter and White Paper were published tomorrow, would it be like the White Paper on Education, the provisions of which could not be implemented because funding was not provided? That was also a case of many promises but no action.
It would be better if the Deputy awaited publication of the White Paper when she would know if adequate provision has been made for it. We will not know precisely what, if any, funding will be required arising from the White Paper, bearing in mind that a White Paper is a statement of Government policy on a particular area. It is not my intention to blame Fianna Fáil for the fact that it took four years to draft the White Paper to the stage it was at before the former Minister, Deputy Woods, left office. I made that point to indicate that this is not an area about which it is easy to draw conclusions. The voluntary and community sector is very diverse. A range of Departments have relationships with that sector and they address its needs and work with it in different ways. That has evolved in an ad hoc manner. To prepare a White Paper reflecting that reality and seek to create a partnership between the State, through its agencies, Departments and the voluntary community sector, is not something that should be brushed off with a few platitudes. Rather we must examine it thoroughly and develop a serious policy with some prospect of implementation. It would be very easy to produce a White Paper, full of pious platitudes, projections and predictions but I am keen to publish a White Paper clearly stating Government policy, with a realistic prospect of being implemented by this and future Administrations. It is important to bear in mind that there have been a number of developments in the four years since the decision was taken to prepare a White Paper. As a new Minister I considered it would be important to reflect on those developments and ensure they were incorporated in the White Paper.
In the White Paper and Charter will the Minister address the chronic funding problem of voluntary bodies which, since he assumed office, have completed two further applications, one for last year and another for this year, to several Government Departments for various grants? Would he agree that the Government has failed to provide core funding for such voluntary bodies or to deliver a specific multi-annual system of funding for them? Does the Minister intend addressing that issue in the White Paper in addition to the overall funding for respite care?
I accept the need for a clear view of how the relationship between State agencies and the voluntary sector can be developed. My Department is leading the way in providing core and multi-annual funding under our community development programme and through the monetary advice and budgeting service. My predecessor deserves credit for having initiated both schemes, on having had the foresight to perceive that core, multi-annual funding was a necessity for the long-term requirements of voluntary organisations. However, it is also necessary to bear in mind that the services provided by the voluntary sector need to be carefully dove-tailed with other services such as those within health boards and local authorities. For example, groups of voluntary organisations cannot be allowed to dictate how public moneys are spent because they may decide a particular service needs to be provided and, through lobbying and public pressure, succeed in getting funding allocated for that purpose, perhaps to the detriment of priorities already established by this House. There is need to be careful in determining how we move forward in developing that relationship, in the first place ensuring that the voluntary sector remains independent and, in the second, that it has a worthwhile partnership relationship with the State agencies that also provide core services.
Can the Minister indicate a time frame within which this will take place?
I have already indicated that I will shortly circulate a draft White Paper to my colleagues in Government. The time frame for the implementation of the provisions will depend to some extent on how quickly I receive my colleagues' observations.
Are we talking about weeks or months?
I cannot predict that.