Vol. 488 No. 5
3 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Taoiseach if the guidelines for accessing the young people's facilities and services fund, established under the terms of the second report of the Ministerial Task Force on the Reduction of Demand for Drugs, have yet been finalised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5681/98]
4 Mr. Gregory asked the Taoiseach the criteria for grant allocations under the £30 million youth services fund; the way in which the fund will be administered; the progress, if any, in 1998 in obtaining additional funding from the corporate sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6462/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 and 4 together.
The detailed arrangements for the operation of the young people's facilities and services fund, which was announced by the Government recently, are currently being finalised and will be submitted to the Government for approval as soon as possible.
At my request, discussions have been initiated with interested parties on the question of obtaining additional funding for the fund from the corporate sector, and I hope to put proposals on this to the Cabinet Committee on Social Inclusion and Drugs as soon as possible.
One of the lessons I learned in the past three years of politics is how long it takes to implement something from the time it is conceived or agreed. Is the Minister aware this is an important initiative and, nine months into his ministry, we still do not know how this fund is to be accessed? Can he be more specific about when these guidelines will be promulgated? Does he envisage that the moneys will be applied for through the local drugs task forces? If that is the case, how will one access the element of the fund which is outside of the areas covered by the local drugs task forces?
I am working extremely hard on drawing up the guidelines and I expect to have them finalised for the Cabinet subcommittee on social inclusion in March. I want to retain my options on finalising the guidelines until such time as I have completed all of the work on them, but they will be brought before the Cabinet subcommittee for a decision in March and then before the Government for a final decision.
In so far as access to the funds is concerned, that will be covered by the guidelines. As the Deputy recognises, there are two separate issues here: first, the commitment that at least £20 million will be targeted at the local drugs task force areas; and second, the additional £10 million which is available to areas outside of the areas covered by the local drugs task forces but which also have difficulties with regard to drug misuse.
Will the Minister agree that there seems to be a marked lack of urgency on the part of this Government about the heroin problem in Dublin in sharp contrast to the hue and cry created by the same people before the last general election? It is nine months since the outcome of that election. For the Government, at least, it is as if the drugs problem has gone away. Not a penny of this youth services fund has been allocated, let alone spent in all that time. We have not even received the criteria on which it will be based.
Surely the Minister must accept that the heroin problem is resurfacing in some of the areas from which the communities had driven it out? In streets just off O'Connell St, Dublin, heroin is being sold openly again. Young people are falling victim to heroin daily and they will continue to fall victim to it until the Government implements the measures outlined in the reports of the last Government. What Minister and Department will be responsible for allocating the £20 million fund specifically to the heroin ravaged areas?
I refute the assertion by the Deputy that there is any tardiness on the part of this Government in tackling the issue of heroin abuse. I am engaged practically full-time on that issue.
The Deputy should take account of the excellent work being done by the 13 local drugs task forces which are now implementing at local and community level the programmes and services which were approved by this and the last Administration. That represents exceptional progress by the local drugs task forces.
I indicated that the guidelines for the young people's facilities and services fund will be available this month. I also indicated when we discussed this issue that the £20 million fund will make a significant contribution to tackling the heroin abuse problem, to which the Deputy referred, in areas covered by the local drugs task forces.
So far as accessing the funds is concerned, the funds are currently in the Vote of the Department of Education and Science but the allocation of those funds, which will be based on the guidelines which I shall publish once they are approved by Government, will be through the National Drugs Strategy Team. The team will without delay evaluate projects sent by the local drugs task forces so that the funds can be accessed. The allocations will be made on the recommendations of the Cabinet subcommittee on social inclusion, which is where the control of the funds will rest.
What commitment is there by the Government to improve the quality of life and the environment of those who reside in Dolphin House, St. Theresa's Gardens, Fatima Mansions and St. Michael's House where there are significant drug problems and social deprivation?
The Deputy is touching on the pilot projects I have initiated and which the Government has accepted. The Government has given me authority and resources with which to proceed on four pilot projects, one of which covers the area to which the Deputy referred. The other three are in the north inner city, Togher in Cork and Jobstown in Tallaght. The purpose of that project is to determine the best mechanism for delivering all services to those areas on a co-ordinated basis to make a significant difference to the lives of the people residing there and to identify the gaps in service delivery to those areas.
It is my intention that we will have an initial action plan available in September or October of this year for submission for approval to the Government. If those pilot programmes work, they will make a significant difference to the lives of the people living in areas of most disadvantage. This is in keeping with the Taoiseach's desire to tackle areas of high disadvantage because of the extent of social exclusion in the areas concerned. The area to which the Deputy referred is one of the four pilot project areas.
Is the Minister aware of the concern among youth service organisations at the long delay of nine months to which Deputy Rabbitte referred? Is he aware of the view among the youth services that there was a tug of war between the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation, which is the Minister, Deputy Flood's, area, and the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy O'Dea's, area which took a fair amount of time to sort out?
What success has the Minister had in attracting private sector funding to complement the moneys being put up by the Government?
I assure the Deputy there is no tug of war with regard to this funding. The Deputy will understand that when I took office there was a commitment that £20 million ought to be provided for a youth services and amenities fund, but there was no money on the table and it was up to this Government to provide it. In an announcement in January the Taoiseach indicated there would be not £20 million but £30 million available over the next three years to back this fund.
After public pressure and a private Members' motion.
No. The Deputy did not listen to my earlier comments. Perhaps he was not in the House to listen to them——
I was.
——but I indicated frequently that there was a tremendous amount of work to be done by the Cabinet subcommittee on social inclusion before we could make progress on the issue.
The Taoiseach's announcement in January that £30 million would be available kept faith with the work of the Cabinet subcommittee and the House is now hearing of the outline of important plans to tackle social inclusion.
Nothing done in nine months.
I assure the Deputy that there is no tug of war between Ministers, junior Ministers or between other organisations. I outlined earlier how the funds are to be accessed and disbursed. As I advised the House on the last occasion when we discussed this issue, we have had contact from the corporate sector and I am very encouraged by that contact. We are involved in discussions with the Irish Youth Foundation regarding how that funding might be accessed.
Not a penny has been allocated so far.
Everyone welcomes the allocation of the £20 million and £10 million. However, those involved in providing the services want to know when they may anticipate access to the scheme being advertised. In making their plans and dealing with people who desperately need these services and towards whom they are directed, they have inquired if it will impact on their work programmes for the current year. Will any of the money become available in the current year?
Do I take it that the guidelines and the report on the pilot projects will not involve a further delay? For example, if one was to wait for the report on the pilot projects to be succeeded by the guidelines approval and then the guidelines advertisement, one might envisage a situation where there would be no allocation in 1998. Will the Minister of State provide an indication of when those who desperately need funding can anticipate the appearance of an advertisement in the newspapers, in respect of which they can apply, and the drawing down of moneys to spend on this urgent problem?
Approximately £7.5 million of the £30 million will be made available this year. Everyone is anxious that this should be utilised as quickly as possible. Consequently, when the guidelines, which I intend to approve during March, are approved by the Government — I expect there will be no delay in that regard — we can begin to receive requests and make funding available to groups and organisations which wish to access it. I assure the Deputy there will be no delay.
In so far as the pilot projects are concerned, this is a separate but parallel development aimed at tackling social exclusion in areas of most disadvantage. If it is successful it will make a significant contribution to improving the lives, in a holistic and general way, of people living in areas currently suffering great levels of disadvantage.
Is the Minister of State aware of the deep level of frustration among organisers of football teams in the inner city? I met a delegation from Markievicz Celtic, a football team from my area, whose players are obliged to change in what is effectively a hovel. They have access to one shower which only has cold water. Does the Minister of State agree that this situation is unsatisfactory? These football teams perform an enormous social function or service because they ensure that children who are vulnerable are kept off the streets. We need to invest in such teams. Is the Minister of State aware of the fear among my constituents in the City Quay, Ringsend and Irishtown areas that they will not obtain this money because they are situated in the docklands area and are seen to be benefiting already? Will he confirm that they will obtain the money to which they are entitled?
The Deputy referred to the difficulties the club or clubs in question have encountered in finding resources to carry out their work. This is an important issue and everyone recognises that there are many outstanding groups, clubs and organisations which provide services, facilities and leisure activities for young people. The leaders of those groups spend the greater part of their time fundraising, often in difficult circumstances. Through this fund we will be able to reach out to those organisations and assist them with the type of funding they have not been able to access from the statutory sector in the past. I recognise the point made by the Deputy and I believe we will be able to deal with it. Interested parties in any of the 13 areas covered by a local drugs task force will be entitled to access this funding and will not excluded because their area is situated near a development or emergent development of any kind.
(Dublin West): In view of the few times the Cabinet subcommittee has met, is the Government really aware of the urgent need to distribute funds at the coalface? Does the Government appreciate the resources spent now on youth services and facilities will stop additional numbers of young people falling victim to heroin and prevent immense suffering and the incurring of further costs on the part of the State? With regard to the criteria for qualification for funding, will the Minister of State provide assurances that these criteria will be wide and that projects for young people living in hard hit working class areas can be facilitated? In respect of facilities for young people, including sports, football and horse lovers clubs and community centres in areas where there are high levels of poverty and, therefore, risk, will he provide assurances that such projects will come under the criteria he is in the process of drawing up?
I have no doubt that the projects to which the Deputy referred will come within the criteria outlined in the final guidelines when they emerge. Organisations promoting activities in communities situated in a drugs task force area where young people are engaged or ought to be engaged in leisure, recreational and other activities of a positive nature will be able to benefit from the funding available to the areas in question. I assure the Deputy that every effort will be made, within the different schemes being put in place, to discourage young people from becoming involved in the misuse of drugs in the first instance. The efforts of the local drugs task forces, which have proven successful to date, are proceeding in a positive way in the communities in which they are located.
I have met a number of voluntary and community organisations which are extremely positive regarding the issues being tackled at local level. Yesterday I met representatives of COCAD who gave me a positive response to action being taken at present. That was the second occasion on which I met representatives of that organisation and I have met others also. There is a recognition that co-ordination in respect of tackling drug misuse at community level is gradually beginning to succeed. That is not to say that I do not fully accept we have a long and difficult road to follow. However, with the resources being put in place and the other initiatives I am spearheading, I am confident that we will make a difference.
The time for questions to the Taoiseach has expired. However, Deputies Naughten and Rabbitte are offering and I will allow them each to ask short supplementaries.
The Minister of State referred to private sector funding. Has he made approaches to companies such as Intel or Hewlett Packard? It is of vital interest to these companies that young people are removed from the spiralling drug scenario in which they find themselves.
In the near future we will encounter serious problems because there will not be adequate numbers of young people to take up employment in these industries. Has the Minister of State made approaches to large multinational companies which will benefit from the development of services in these areas? What companies, if any, has he approached in this regard?
A number of approaches have been made but, at this early stage while discussions with the Irish Youth Foundation remain ongoing, I do not want to name any companies. However, in due course the identities of these companies will become widely known. I am encouraged by two-way contacts we have received in respect of corporate funding. Following the outcome of our discussions with the Irish Youth Foundation, we will be in a position to make significant progress in a co-ordinated way. Subscribers to the fund have different requirements and we must ensure that we are in a position to meet those requirements, within a particular set of guidelines, and obtain any corporate sector funding which might come our way. We will actively pursue such funding.
Has the Minister of State consulted the chairpersons of the local drugs task forces in terms of formulating the guidelines? Am I incorrect in assuming that we have beaten off the Department of Education and Science and have avoided the moneys being sucked into the maw of that Department, and that the Minister will be the person putting recommendations to the Cabinet subcommittee in terms of the disbursal and accessing of these moneys?
The allocation of the funding will be made on the recommendation of the Cabinet subcommittee on Social Inclusion, of which I am a member. Much of the work in terms of evaluation and processing of the applications will have been supervised by the National Drugs Strategy team or by an evaluation team attached to it. There is no question of there being any difficulty in regard to that.
In regard to the second part of the Deputy's question, I have asked for a meeting which I understand is to take place next week at which we will be discussing that issue. It has already been brought to the attention of the Cabinet subcommittee by the National Drugs Strategy team.
