Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 March 2004
594 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the amount of money allocated by his Department in 2003 and 2004 to directly fund services for persons with disabilities and the amount of money allocated to enabling persons with disabilities to more easily access his Department’s services. [8649/04]
View answerThe following organisations focus on disability and are core funded by my Department's community development programme.
Interaction
This is a community participation project for people with disabilities organised under the auspices of the Irish Wheelchair Association. It targets people with disabilities who, because of personal circumstances, have the most difficulty in accessing social, educational and developmental opportunities and experience exclusion from their local community. At present the project is in pilot phase and initially will operate from centres in Kilkenny and Navan. Funding of €87,500 was allocated in 2003.
Kerry Network of People with Disabilities
The network is one of 30 networks of people with disabilities nationwide that collectively form the national organisation, People with Disabilities in Ireland Limited. The network employs five staff, one of which is a community development worker, funded through the CDP programme. Its aims are to create awareness about disability issues in Kerry, to provide a structure in the county through which people with disabilities can participate and influence decision-making and to empower and enable local people with disabilities to participate in their communities. A sum of €40,000 was allocated in 2003.
Disability and Equality Specialist Support Agency
DESSA is an agency that works with projects funded by the community development programme to develop strategies that will facilitate and support the full involvement and inclusion of people with disabilities within the CDP. The agency was established in 2002 and is based in Dublin. It is one of six specialist agencies operating within the CDP and each one has a specific issue based focus. The 2003 allocation was €161,500.
I expect that these organisations will continue to be funded under the programme throughout 2004. Contracts and budgets have yet to be finalised in respect of the current year.
There is no specific funding allocated for persons with disabilities under the local development social inclusion programme. However, this is one of the target groups supported by the programme.
Only a limited range of services are directly provided by my Department to the public. Therefore, no funds have been specifically allocated to enable persons with disabilities to more easily access its services. As part of my Department's customer service action plan, it is proposed to undertake research with a view to identifying persons or groups that have difficulty accessing our services and to seek to eliminate such barriers.
