I propose to take Questions Nos. 33, 35, 51 and 52 together.
Arising from the review of local and community development structures which I initiated three years ago in conjunction with my colleagues, the Ministers for Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Government agreed a series of measures in January 2004 designed to improve delivery of services on the ground, arrangements under which community and local development initiatives are delivered and improve cohesion and focus across various measures. Since then, I have overseen a radical change process that is informed by the following guiding principles: improving on the ground services; streamlining structures so as to avoid overlaps, duplication and undue administrative overheads; bringing transparency, co-ordination and improved control to the funding and operation of local and community development measures; and strengthening the democratic accountability of agencies and providers in this area.
As a first step towards improving on the ground services, I mandated City and County Development Boards (CDBS) to oversee the cohesion process at local level and to facilitate the development of proposals by local agencies with a view to achieving better co-ordination of service delivery. To this end, I allocated €3,248,600 to the CDBs and Údaras na Gaeltachta during 2004 in respect of proposals aimed at improving linkages between local agencies, support multi-agency actions and promote sharing of resources to maximise the impact of available funding.
The 2005/2006 phase of the process aims to improve the alignment of the multiple local and community development agencies by the end of this year in a way that removes any overlaps and duplication and maximises available resources for the benefit of local communities. The intention is that, from 2007, there will be one unified local development structure providing full coverage in any given area and fewer structures overall in the country. In the rural context, this means that in future one agency will be responsible for delivering local and rural development programmes, making it far easier for local people to access such services. At present, partnerships do not have full area cover and cannot reach those affected by disadvantage who live outside their catchment areas. This serious impediment will be addressed by the new arrangements. The new streamlined structures will have full area cover thereby enabling the State to deliver programmes such as the local development social inclusion programme on a nationwide basis.
At this stage, 22 of the local authority areas and na Gaeltachtaí have fully agreed the integrated structures which will provide full coverage. A total of €4,836,927 was awarded to CDB's in respect of agreed cohesion initiatives during 2005, including €1,463,400 for volunteering measures. So far this year, I have approved the allocation of €3,295,762 for agreed cohesion measures and €760,600 to promote volunteering locally. Discussions are ongoing in the remaining areas and I am confident that arrangements will have been finalised in all areas by the end of the year.