Vol. 521 No. 4
253 Mr. Naughten 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 in the constituency of Longford-Roscommon in 2000; the details of any such programmes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17555/00]
Funding of approximately £365 million has been allocated to my Department in the National Development Plan, 2000-2006, of which £114.5 million is in respect of capital expenditure on my Department's equal opportunities child care programme, on a programme to prepare prisoners for employment and on projects to be developed by the Probation and Welfare Service of my Department.
My Department's equal opportunities child care programme has been allocated £250 million to invest in the development of child care service provision. The amount of £100 million of this £250 million is in respect of capital expenditure. 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 may projects will be funded in any county during 2000.
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 carried out within the past two years with EU funding. This is a co-ordinated programme within the national development plan, as regards the agencies within my Department, the prisons and probation services and the Garda Síochána and other State bodies working in this field. The total expenditure on work and training planned in prisons is approximately £46 million of which £7 million is capital expenditure. It is not possible to say how many offenders in the Longford-Roscommon constituency will be referred to the Probation and Welfare Service by the courts or will be in custody to avail of projected developments there. There is no provision in the prison services training and development programme of the national development plan for capital expenditure for implementation in 2000, specifically located in the constituency of Longford-Roscommon.
The Probation and Welfare Service of my Department has been allocated funding under the national development plan of almost £25 million of which £7.5 million is in respect of capital expenditure. 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. There is no capital expenditure planned in 2000 for the constituency of Longford-Roscommon. However, individuals from Longford-Roscommon will be able to benefit from these projects.
