Vol. 571 No. 2
303 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the specific allocation of his staff whose principal duty is to ensure that his Department is effectively engaged with RAPID communities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21398/03]
A division of my Department, crime division, in addition to its other functions, acts as the co-ordinator for RAPID matters within the Department, including communication with the Garda Síochána and the probation and welfare service. An assistant principal of the division has been assigned, on a part-time basis, to co-ordinate and support the implementation of the RAPID programme by the Department and its associated agencies. A principal officer of crime division is a member of the RAPID national monitoring committee. Apart from its RAPID co-ordination role, crime division, given its functional remit, is also involved in responding to some specific RAPID proposals.
My Department has established the following co-ordination arrangements to streamline the process of responding to developments and applications under the RAPID programme: crime division distributes the proposals received through the RAPID programme to the most appropriate division of the Department or agency for which the Department has responsibility; ownership of proposals is accepted by a division of the Department or agency, where appropriate, and the national co-ordinator is notified; details of progress by the Department concerning the specific RAPID proposals accepted by the Department are provided for the RAPID national monitoring committee every three months and crime division is in ongoing liaison with the relevant divisions and agencies concerning the implementation of the Programme.
