Dan Neville
Question:350 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will make a grant available for community care service for a group (details supplied) in County Limerick. [13476/04]
View answerTuesday, 11 May 2004
Questions (319)
Written answers
I understand that an application from this group in County Limerick for a substantial capital grant of almost €1.35 million was submitted some time ago and that there has been considerable dialogue between the project and Area Development Management Limited on aspects of the proposal.
The daily administration of the equal opportunities child care programme 2000-2006 is undertaken by Area Development Management Limited which has been engaged by my Department to carry out thorough assessments against the programme criteria of all applications for grant assistance under the programme, on my behalf. All large-scale capital projects are referred by Area Development Management Limited to an independent external building specialist to assess the suitability of the proposal and its value for money. This external appraisal has been completed. On completion of the assessment process, applications are 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.
The EOCP is a seven year development programme, whose progress received favourable comment from the mid-term evaluators of the regional operational programmes and the National Development Plan 2000-2006. Expenditure under the programme covers the period to the end of 2007 and must take place in a planned manner as must grant approvals to ensure that it can meet its financial commitments at all times.
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 and to support capital developments in the private child care sector. Area Development Management Limited on behalf of my Department, is carrying out an extensive review of the programme's capital commitments to date, numbering more than 1,100 and at a value of €114 million, to ensure that grant commitments previously entered into will be realised. Projects may be awaiting planning permission or the completion of tender processes before reasonable assurance can be taken that they will proceed and, if they do not, the funding set aside can be decommitted and made available to another project.
In addition, my Department has recently reviewed the different budget lines under the EOCP, including the capital programme, to ensure that the most effective use is made of all remaining funding in accordance with the programme's objectives. Some transfers between measures were recommended and require the approval of the regional assemblies. I expect that this technical process will be completed shortly and that it will bring to at least €157 million the total allocation for the capital development of child care under the present EOCP. This amount includes an element for the administration by Area Development Management Limited of the capital programme. At the same time, an extensive review of child care provision has taken place to identify obvious service gaps, the filling of which will be a priority using the remaining capital funding which currently amounts to about €35 million.
I intend to allocate the remaining capital funding under this strand of the Government's commitments to child care to address the most immediate service gaps. As a result, all the projects in the pipeline, including this Limerick project, are being reviewed again by Area Development Management Limited on the basis of geographical need, the range of services being offered and the capacity of a group to complete a project before the end of the programme. Those projects which best meet the criteria will receive priority. The review process will be repeated as necessary to maximise the benefits deriving from this phase of the EOCP.
The success of the present strand of the EOCP and the need to continue to make child care available to support the child care needs of our still growing workforce will support my case for ongoing capital and current funding from Government for this key sector. Should any additional funding become available before the end of the present national development plan, the programme would again benefit from transfers. Pending the outcome of the Area Development Management Limited review, it would be premature of me to comment further on specific applications for grant assistance.