One of the Government's key priorities is to ensure a more focused and better co-ordinated response by the statutory authorities in addressing the needs of severely disadvantaged urban communities. To that end, the inter-departmental committee on local development, which I chair, has been given a mandate to oversee an integrated services project which aims to produce a model of best practice that can be extended to other deprived urban areas.
The pilot project will target four areas, viz. :
Dublin's North East Inner City, the Canal Communities (Fatima Mansions, St. Teresa's Gardens, St. Michael's House, Dolphin House), Jobstown, Tallaght, and Togher, Cork.
The initial stage of the project will involve consultation with local communities about the needs of their areas; profiling existing services and resources; identifying the extent of integration between them; and devising a framework to enhance co-ordination and integration efforts.
A steering group comprising representatives from the Departments of Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Environment and Local Government and from Area Development Management Ltd. has been established under the auspices of the Inter-departmental Committee on Local Development to oversee the project. Given ADM's experience in relation to partnerships and its knowledge of local communities, it has been given an important role in the day-to-day management of the project. ADM has already consulted the relevant partnerships to ask for their support and co-operation in advancing the project and the response has been positive.