Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 June 2014
105. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the progress made in the past three years with the RAPID programme; the amount allocated to this programme in 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25240/14]
View answerThe RAPID programme aims to ensure that priority attention is given to tackling the spatial concentration of poverty and social exclusion in areas covered by the Programme. My Department administers the RAPID Leverage Schemes, which are designed to support small scale projects identified locally by Area Implementation Teams in each of the RAPID areas.
Over the past three years I have continued to meet my Department’s existing contractual commitments on RAPID projects throughout the country . In 2014 I allocated funding of €1.9 million which is used for Sports Capital projects jointly funded with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. It is a matter for individual lead Departments to report on the provision of funding and progress on delivery with regard to projects under their responsibility in the different RAPID areas.
The RAPID programme has made substantial progress in identifying the needs of disadvantaged communities and in bringing forward important local projects in response to those needs. I intend that the focus will remain on tackling poverty and social exclusion in RAPID areas and this will be more effectively combined with other programmes and actions delivered on an area basis. This will be overseen by new Local Community Development Committees which are being established in each local authority area under the Local Government Reform Act 2014.
