An application for capital grant assistance from the 2000 — 2006 equal opportunities child care programme was received from this community based group on 3 February 2004.
The day-to-day administration of the programme is undertaken by Area Development Management Limited which has been engaged by my Department to carry out thorough assessments of all applications for grant assistance under the programme, on my behalf. All large scale capital projects are referred by ADM Limited to an independent external building specialist to assess the suitability of the proposal and its value for money.
I understand that this application is under appraisal. On completion of the assessment process, this application will be considered by the programme appraisal committee, chaired by my Department, which makes a funding recommendation to me before I make a final decision on the matter.
There has been considerable demand from community-based groups for capital grant assistance under the programme and every county has benefited from significant grant commitments to provide new and enhanced community-based child care facilities. My Department is carrying out an extensive review of the programme's capital commitments to date to ensure that those grant commitments previously entered into will in fact be realised by the groups on the ground. At the same time, it is also reviewing different budget lines under the capital programme to ensure that the most effective use is made of all remaining capital funding in accordance with the objectives of the programme.
Every effort is being made to expedite the programme review of the capital elements of the equal opportunities child care programme to ensure all capital projects which have already received grant allocations will proceed. It would be premature of me to comment further on specific applications for capital grant assistance under the programme at this time.
