Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 31 May 2000

Vol. 520 No. 2

Written Answers. - National Development Plan.

Willie Penrose

Question:

167 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the new services or the extension of existing services contained in the national development plan, which are funded by his Department, which have commenced or will commence in County Westmeath in 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15442/00]

Willie Penrose

Question:

168 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the capital programmes contained in the national development plan and funded by his Department that have commenced or will commence in the Westmeath constituency in 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15467/00]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue):

I propose to take Questions Nos. 167 and 168 together.

Funding of approximately £365 million has been allocated to my Department in the National Development Plan, 2000-2006.

My Department's equal opportunities child care programme has been allocated £250 million to invest in the development of child care service provision. On 28 April last, I launched capital and staffing grant measures under the programme and, to date, almost 3,000 requests for application forms have been received. There is no closing date for applications as the programme is being operated on an open ended basis. It is not possible to say at this stage how many projects will be funded in any county during 2000.

My Department has been allocated a sum of £23.2 million for positive actions targeted at women. The plan provides for positive actions to tackle vertical and horizontal segregation in the labour market and for the development of family friendly initiatives. There will also be a focus on addressing the needs of women in the home who are seeking to avail of labour market opportunities, supporting gender balance in decision making and assisting disadvantaged women. In addition, my Department has been allocated £4 million for a gender equality and monitoring unit to mainstream equal opportunities between men and women across the national development plan. There is no capital element to these measures. The location of projects for year 2000 has yet to be finalised.

There is provision within the national development plan for a programme to prepare prisoners for employment after their release. The programme is an expansion of an existing activity which has been taking place over a number of years in the prisons and it is based on a pilot research project which has been carried out within the last two years with EU funding. This is a co-ordinated programme within the National Development Plan, both as regards the agencies within my own Department – the prisons and probation services and the Garda Síochána and with other State bodies working in this field. The total expenditure on work and training that is planned in prisons is approximately £46 million. There is no provision in the prison services training and development programme of the national development plan either for services or capital expenditure for implementation in 2000 specifically located in County Westmeath.

The probation and welfare service of my Department has been allocated funding under the national development plan of almost £25 million. The proposal in respect of this funding will target a number of groups such as those under 25 years who have been before the courts and are likely to reoffend and become long-term unemployed. Another target group will be women, particularly young women with drug problems and those with families whose lives are disrupted, for example, by domestic violence. The projects to be developed under this programme relate to developments across the regions as needs apply and will cater for those referred to the Probation and Welfare Service by the courts as well as those receiving custodial sentences. The Probation and Welfare Service has identified Athlone for the establishment of a day probation centre under this programme. A time frame for the provision of the centre has not yet been decided but I can confirm that no capital expenditure will arise this year in respect of this centre. Support services will be provided in tandem with the centre.

Funding of £16 million has been allocated for a significant expansion of the Garda youth diversion development programme. The projects in this programme aim, through a combination of intervention and preventative actions, to divert young people from becoming involved in criminal activity and its consequences. The long-term objective is to enable the target group of ten to 18 year olds to integrate into the labour force and to enhance their employment prospects. It is proposed to expand the number of projects on a phased basis over the life of the plan. At the beginning of this month I announced that Athlone is also selected as a location for one of ten projects to be established in the first phase of the programme later this year. There is no capital element to these measures.