Vol. 529 No. 1
882 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will ensure a centre (details supplied) in County Sligo is granted funding for the provision of out of school child care services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1117/01]
My Department has a £5 million annual allocation to support the provision of out-of-school hours child care services by community based groups in disadvantaged areas.
The funding for out-of-school hours child care is being made available to projects funded by my Department under the following programmes: community development programme; family and community services resource centre programme; core-funded community and family support group programme. Funding will also be available to other local initiatives subscribing to a self-help, community development ethos.
A technical group has been set up to examine all applications received under this scheme, and to make recommendations to me on their eligibility for funding under the scheme. The application referred to by the Deputy has been sent to an outside agency for initial assessment. When that assessment has been completed, the application will go before the technical group for discussion. Should the technical group recommend the application, my Department will inform the group. Should the group require any further information, my Department will be happy to provide it.
