Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 9 Feb 2000

Vol. 514 No. 1

Adjournment Debate. - Area Development Management Scheme.

Mr. Flanagan

I seek the extension of the area development management scheme to County Laois in the context of the national plan's proposed allocation of funding and projects to the Border, midlands and western counties.

The Minister of State will be aware that a total of £15 billion is available for infrastructural developments, employment and social inclusion in the Border, midlands and western region. Much of this will be channelled through the ADM partnership boards. The area development management scheme was established some years ago and has been successful in many parts of the country. Reading through the annual report of the ADM partnership groups some weeks ago, I noted with dissatisfaction and surprise that the only county in the Border, midlands and western group that does not have a partnership board is County Laois. This will have to be put right by the Government by way of remedial action.

The Western Development Board and voluntary and community groups throughout Connacht have been most successful in recent years in making a case for the allocation of funding for the provision of infrastructural development and jobs in the area west of the Shannon. The voluntary and community groups and the area development management partnership boards in the Border group of counties have also been successful. As a result of the peace dividend and funds from INTERREG and the United States, there will be substantial investment in the Border area in years to come.

My plea tonight is on behalf of the midlands. The Minister of State will be aware that there is a jobs deficit in the midlands. A number of task forces are in operation, some of which have been in situ for some time but they have reported little progress. I am referring not only to Longford, Mullingar and Westmeath but also to County Laois where a jobs task force has been in operation for a year since the loss of 370 jobs at Avon Arlington in Portarlington. Unemployment figures for Laois are higher than the national average and in recent years, despite the economic boom about which we hear so much, job figures for the county show a net loss in industrial and manufacturing jobs in 1998 and 1999. The towns of Portlaoise, Portarlington and Mountmellick still have higher unemployment rates than the national average.

The local infrastructural sub-programme in the national plan will see a massive investment of £294 million for rural water programmes. How much of this will go to areas which do not have ADM partnerships? The total sum allocated for investment in waste management is £240 million, a staggering sum. The plan proposes to allocate £31 million for urban and village renewal; £156 million for culture, sport and recreation; £59 million for tourism; £54 million for micro-enterprise measures and £94 million for rural development. The sub-programme for social inclusion for the Border, midlands and western counties is allocated the huge sum of £220 million. That funding is expected to deal with the consequences of poverty in the area in terms of its impact on the environment and on rural areas.

I am asking the Minister to level the playing pitch. County Laois will not get its fair share of funding without the extension of the ADM.

Dr. Moffatt

The Minister of State, Deputy Ryan, regrets he cannot be present to respond on this matter. Area Development Management Limited, ADM, the independent company set up jointly by the Irish Government and the European Commission in 1992, has direct responsibility for the management of the sub-programme Integrated Development of Designated Disadvantaged and Other Areas, which formed part of the EU co-financed Operational Programme for Local Urban and Rural Development, 1994-99.

In 1994, the Government designated, on the basis of objective indicators of need, the specific areas of disadvantage to participate in the sub-programme. The indicators of deprivation used to determine the areas included: unemployment levels, proportion of persons in small farming, age dependency levels, percentage of persons leaving school under 15 years of age, percentage of persons with third level education, proportion of home ownership, home size – average number of rooms, percentage of lone parents and car ownership.

When these indicators were aggregated, County Laois ranked better than the national average and it is one of six counties where no areas were designated as disadvantaged for the purposes of the sub-programme. The Deputy will be aware that parts of Counties Offaly and Louth are in a similar position. However, this did not mean that County Laois was ruled out for support under the sub-programme. The community group strand was developed to provide support for ADM selected groups working outside the designated areas. This strand operates parallel to the disadvantaged areas/partnership strand of the sub-programme.

The aim of the community group strand is to support the 33 selected groups throughout the country in the implementation of their integrated plans that were designed to reverse local decline and animate economic and social regeneration. The groups vary in size, focus and experience. Some had long experience and established track records in their areas, others were newly formed.

There are two ADM supported community groups operating in County Laois. The Mountmellick Community Development Association was formed in 1982 and secured more than £400,000 from ADM for its 1996-99 plan. Portlaoise Community Action Project was formed in 1997 to counter marginalisation, exclusion and disadvantage in Portlaoise. It was approved for funding of £365,000 from ADM.

The national development plan has provided over £400 million in the regional operational programmes for social inclusion measures that fall within the ambit of my Department. About 50% of this will be available under certain measures to continue and augment the valuable work carried out by the area-based partnership companies and ADM-supported community groups.

Any adjustment to existing local development structures can only be made in the context of the recommendations of the task force on the integration of local government and local development systems to which the Government is fully committed. This task force was established by the Government under the chairmanship of the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Dempsey, to examine the issue of better linkages within and across publicly-funded programmes to provide a cohesive framework for the delivery of local services. The task force published its recommendations in August 1998. Central to its recommendations is the establishment of county-city development boards whose primary functions will be to draw up a comprehensive strategy for economic, social and cultural development within the county-city and to work towards its implementation. The boards are expected to be in place by the end of March 2000.

Existing local structures will continue broadly as they are, pending the completion of the county-city development board plans. It is fore seen that the partnerships, ADM-supported community groups, Leader groups and other local agencies will work with the local directors of community and enterprise and county-city development boards to bring about an agreed realignment of boundaries and work focus to comply with the recommendations of the report of the task force. In light of the ongoing integration of local development and local government systems, it is not proposed to adjust existing area based partnership structures at this time.

The Dáil adjourned at 11.12 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 10 February 2000.