Vol. 531 No. 3
37 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the involvement of his Department in the selection of the 25 local areas for the RAPID programme; and the role his Department will have in the implementation of the new targeted investment project. [5734/01]
Following the successful piloting in four areas of the integrated services process, ISP, during 1999 and 2000 the Government recently decided to extend the approach adopted in the pilots to 25 locations under the title of the RAPID programme, revitalising areas by planning, investment and development.
The ISP was overseen by a national committee, on which my Department was represented. For the RAPID programme the 25 areas identified as suffering the greatest concentration of deprivation were selected using objective criteria. The factors taken into account included unemployment levels, income, family and social structure, educational disadvantage and high levels of rented local authority housing.
My Department will continue to be represented on the national steering committee as it goes on to oversee the implementation of the RAPID programme. It will also be appropriately engaged at the local level on each of the individual projects. Its involvement will be, in essence, a continuation and deepening of its already very supportive role for measures aimed at reducing social exclusion. Co-operation between State with other agencies is one of the critical success factors for tackling the problems that beset the most deprived areas. The Department's community development programme has been, and will continue to be, an important element in capacity building in the communities under focus. Departmentally funded family resource centres already make a significant contribution in many of these areas. I will ensure that any further focused support that is required under the Department's grant programmes in the RAPID areas will be forthcoming.
My Department has also been piloting a family services programme, FSP, over the past two years in order to identify how it might best support families generally. The central element of the pilot schemes was the collaborative approach achieved with both statutory and non-statutory bodies and local communities in achieving successful outcomes for those involved. One of these pilot schemes was located in an ISP area and the potential for further development of this approach in the context of the RAPID programme is being examined.
