My Department has for a number of years operated a range of grants schemes and community development support programmes which provide a wide range of support for local self-help and community development groups, and the provision of seed money to enable community groups to pilot initiatives identified as meeting new and emerging community needs. The focus of the community development programme in particular is on providing support to locally-based community groups involved in anti-poverty work within their communities by supporting these communities to develop their capacity to change their situation for the better, to enable them to participate in society and have a real say in their own development.
Under Partnership 2000 my Department was committed to identifying 30 new priority areas for inclusion in the community development programme. The technical group which advises me on areas for expansion of the programmes, first gathered baseline information on levels of disadvantage and poverty. In this regard the group had available to it, the report Targeting Disadvantage under the Community Development Programme, which was commissioned at its request by the Combat Poverty Agency. The report ranked all areas of the State in terms of comparative disadvantage. Further research was undertaken by the regional support agencies funded under the community development programme to further identify the priority areas for assistance under the programmes.
County Sligo was not identified as a priority area of disadvantage as part of this process and consequently pre-development work under the programme had not been initiated. Nonetheless, my Department has just received an application, through the Deputy, from a group, which is currently being funded under the Programme for Peace and Reconciliation, for inclusion in the programme. Their application will be processed in accordance with the procedures set out for administering the programme and my Department will communicate with the group as soon as possible.
