I will continue my reply.
These include:
—expansion of the community development programme from 70 projects, including island projects and a number of family resource centres, and an annual budget of £2.45 million in 1994 to some 100 projects overall and a budget of £4.46 million in 1996;
—a commitment to the proactive targeting of 30 new areas for establishment of new CDP projects over the next three years and the establishment of an expert technical group to assist and advise me in that regard;
—enhancement of the role of the advisory committee to the Community Development Programme, on which projects and support agencies are represented, as a model of good practice in involving the community sector in decision-making and the development of a strategic partnership for social change;
—expansion of the money advice and budgeting service programme from some 25 projects and an annual budget of £750,000 in 1994 to over 40 projects and a budget of £1.96 million in 1996; the expansion of this service so as to make it available throughout the State will be complete within the next year;
—establishment of a once-off £2 million scheme of grants for community support of older people, under which grants are available for community and voluntary organisations to provide certain security equipment and systems at the homes of vulnerable older people;
—an increase of over £2.5 million in my Department's total budget for support of community and voluntary activity since 1994, bringing the total to £11.37 million in 1996.
—rationalisation of the relationship between my Department and the Department of Health in the area of support to voluntary organisations and the transfer of certain individual grants and the respite care scheme and part of the scheme of grants to voluntary organisations to the health services; this transfer was made in the interest of a more coherent system of statutory support for social service providers and eliminated the need for such organisations to apply to two sources for funding for the same services;
—reform of the administration of the grant schemes operated by my Department; the schemes have been regionalised to ensure that those making recommendations on grants are closer to the communities they serve and can make assessments based on local knowledge and priorities;
—transfer of the NSSB to my Department and strengthening of its role in the development of a network of community information centres, including provision of funds for computerisation of the network;
—commissioning of a major independent review of the Combat Poverty Agency, the first of its kind since the Agency's establishment. The review, which will be published shortly, sets out recommendations regarding the future strategic direction for the agency. The results and recommendations from the review are being used as a key input into the development of the next three year strategic plan for the agency which is currently being finalised.
—Perhaps most important of all, the announcement of the development of the National Anti-Poverty Strategy; the strategy is being developed in partnership with the national anti-poverty networks and in extensive consultation with the widest possible range of local community groups;
—The National Anti-Poverty Strategy is designed to fundamentally change the way in which Government tackles the issues of poverty and social exclusion and has involved a widespread consultation process with the voluntary sector, including the national networks, which are funded by the Combat Poverty Agency so as to support the participation of the community sector in policy-making at national level;
—establishment of a commission on the family to advise the Government on policy and support for families, on which the voluntary community sector plays an active part;
—Finally, I have as already announced obtained Government approval to publish a Green Paper on the role of the voluntary community sector and its relation with the State; the Green Paper — which is in place of an earlier decision to publish a White Paper — is intended to stimulate further debate and to facilitate further engagement between the statutory and voluntary sectors in relation to the issues involved. The debate to be facilitated by the Green Paper will help shape future Government policy in relation to the voluntary community sector.
The publication of the Green Paper, the expansion of the money advice and budgeting service and the operation of the scheme of community support for older people are the subject of separate questions to me on today's Order Paper. This allows me the opportunity to give more detailed information on these areas, which I will not go over now.
The steps already taken and future plans I have outlined represent a significant package of measures in support for the community sector and a significant development in the relationship between the sector and the statutory sector. I am committed to further enhancement of the role of the sector and of my Department's support for local community groups in the fight against poverty.