Vol. 534 No. 3
98 Mr. U. Burke asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the position in relation to the Com munity Application of Information Technology (CAIT) Initiative from South East Galway IRD; the total funding available to this scheme; the sum already allocated to these applications; and the latest date for notification of these applications. [10798/01]
The Community Application of Information Technology (CAIT) Initiative seeks to fund demonstration projects, which encourage and assist those in our society who are unfamiliar with, and who do not use, the new information and communications technologies in their every day lives. It is intended that the community and voluntary sector would undertake these projects. Over £2.5 million has been provided for this purpose from the Information Society Fund over the period June 2001 to December 2002. In excess of 450 proposals were received before the deadline, which expired on 15 February last.
An independent steering group comprised of representatives of the Department of Public Enterprise, other Government Departments and the private sector are currently considering all of these proposals. Given the large volume of proposals received it has been necessary to split the project selection process into two distinct stages. The first stage involves a shortlisting of projects based on a paper assessment of proposals received. It is anticipated that the results of the first stage of the selection process will be posted to all project co-ordinators shortly.
The second stage will involve discussions with shortlisted project co-ordinators. It is expected that the results of the second and final stage will be posted to shortlisted project co-ordinators by mid to late May.
The CAIT Initiative is just one of many initiatives being undertaken as part of the wider Government programme to ensure a fully inclusive Information Society in Ireland.
