Michael Creed
Question:162 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Social Welfare the assistance, if any, that is available from his Department towards the provision of family resource centres. [9930/96]
Written Answers. - Family Resource Centres.
My Department funds a community development programme, with an allocation of £4.46 million in 1996. The programme provides financial and other assistance to projects towards the staffing and equipping of local resource centres which provide a focal point for community development activities in the area and to other specialist community development projects. The projects provide a range of supports, development opportunities and services to community groups and individuals in their areas.
Quite a few of the projects in the programme make work with families a particular priority in their workplans. Moreover, in 1994, to mark the International Year of the Family, a special allocation of £250,000 was made available under my Department specifically for family resource centres. Following from this allocation, ten such centres are being funded by my Department at a cost of £155,000 in 1996.
The emphasis in the community development programme is on personal development aimed at developing the individual's confidence and assertiveness so as to enable him-her to engage more fully with society. The programme is essentially about promoting positive change in society in favour of those who benefit least from economic development. A key principle is that projects be managed by a management committee on which people who themselves experience poverty and exclusion participate. The aim of the community development programme is not the provision of social services, professional counselling or social work, although such services are sometimes provided as an outcome of the project's work.