Vol. 476 No. 3
133 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether finance is available from his Department in respect of once-off miscellaneous grant applications from community groups involved in the establishment of employment information centres, separate to the official scheme of grants to voluntary organisations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6938/97]
In addition to the scheme of grants to voluntary organisations, under which once-off grants may be made to assist voluntary and community organisations working with disadvantaged groups or in disadvantaged areas, my Department has also established a separate fund for the development of information services. This fund was established primarily to enable the Department to explore innovative and more effective methods of providing information on social welfare issues. These include, for example, a number of joint information initiatives aimed at improving access to information for people with disabilities, for lone parents and unemployed people wishing to avail of the various back-to-work or education initiatives.
In certain circumstances, grants from this fund can be made towards the cost of administering welfare rights and information services provided by non-statutory organisations. In the past, the main recipients have been the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, both of which operate welfare rights services as a support for their local centres for the unemployed. Other organisations benefiting have been Coolock Community Law Centre and the National Adult Literacy Agency.
This fund is normally used to enable nationally based organisations to provide training and supports for information centres at local level and there is generally no provision for directly funding locally based community groups who wish to establish information services on an ongoing basis.
Responsibility for the National Social Service Board was transferred to my Department in 1995. Proposals for improving and further resourcing independent information services are currently being examined in the context of a three-year strategic plan drawn up by the board which aims to achieve major improvements in network of locally based information centres over this period. These centres offer a broad range of information, guidance and advice on the full range of social service issues, including information on employment and training options for unemployed people.
