Vol. 495 No. 5
29 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the progress, if any, made in relation to the establishment and operation of the four pilot programmes on social disadvantage announced in the budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20437/98]
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 interdepartmental committee on local development, which is chaired by Deputy Flood, Minister of State with responsibility for local development and with special responsibility for national drugs strategy, 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 is targeting four areas, viz. Dublin's north-east inner city; the canal communities — Fatima Mansions, St. Teresa's Gardens, St. Michael's House and Dolphin House; Jobstown, Tallaght; and Togher, Cork.
The initial stage of the project has involved consultation with local communities about the needs of their areas and has culminated in the production of reports on each of the target areas. These reports profile existing services and resources, identify the extent of integration between them and make recommendations to enhance co-ordination and integration efforts.
The reports and their recommendations have now been examined by the interdepartmental policy committee on local development and have been debated at an intensive one-day consultative workshop attended by representatives of the relevant Departments and agencies, members of the local drugs task forces and the Garda, held on 1 October. On foot of these consultation sessions, recommendations are being. prepared to go before the Cabinet committee on social inclusion in the near future.
