Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 December 2014
83. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to continue to finance the non-Gaeltacht island community development companies, which between them were in receipt of nearly €500,000 per annum either directly or through the social inclusion and activation programme, SICAP, in view of the vital work they do on the islands; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45941/14]
View answerAs the Minister is probably aware, the community development companies in the non-Gaeltacht islands play a vital role in sustaining the communities on the islands. There are five such companies, based on Clare Island, Inishturk, Inishbofin, Sherkin Island with associated other small islands in Cork, and Bere Island. Does the Minister intend to provide funding, which is in the region of €500,000 a year, to the development companies on the islands after March 2015? I know the Minister has cover until that date so I am interested in his plans after March 2015.
To be fair, the Deputy has raised this issue with me on previous occasions. My Department’s local and community development programme, LCDP, is the largest social inclusion intervention of its kind in the State. The current programme officially ended at the end of 2013, having operated for four years, with funding of €281 million over that period. As the Deputy noted, it is being implemented on a transitional basis for 2014, with a budget of €47 million pending the roll-out of the new social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, in April 2015. I believe it was the appropriate and necessary decision to make that intervention. My Department currently provides LCDP funding to Comhar na nOileán Teoranta - the local development company for the islands - for the delivery of LCDP to off-shore islands. In terms of the successor programme, SICAP, the intention is that island areas would be eligible for inclusion within the tendering process which is currently under way and is due to be completed in February 2015. The SICAP funding allocations are informed by a specific resource allocation model, otherwise known as RAM, which focuses on the relative disadvantage of individual areas.
Discussions have taken place and are ongoing between my Department and the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht, which has lead responsibility for the islands, in response to issues raised regarding the continuation of funding for the development offices on a number of non-Gaeltacht Islands. This reflected the fact that the issues involved are broader than just those relating to SICAP, which I acknowledge.
I can assure the Deputy that both Departments fully understand the importance of the community development infrastructure on these islands. I and my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, who I discussed this with as late as this morning, will be ensuring that both our Departments continue to collaborate to agree a workable solution into the future. In the meantime, LCDP funding for the groups concerned will continue until the end of March, as the Deputy is aware.
I thank the Minister for his reply which was full of generalities about which I did not particularly ask. When I received such an answer when I was a Minister, I tended to say, "That is not what the Deputy asked. Will you just give the answer to the question?" The answer to the question is that the Minister is able to assure me that funding for the development companies on the island will continue after March and will be approximately the same amount or perhaps a little more because inflation obviously takes its toll. That is the question to which they want an answer because the lives of those on the islands are at stake. Not only that, people have commitments and want to know what is going to happen. They are not particularly interested in the machinations between Departments because they say the Government acts as a collective and they are asking it to give them a collective answer. Will there be funding or not?
I intend to see through broad Government funding mechanisms and ensure there will be adequate funding available for the islands. I do not think it would be appropriate to get into a specific identifiable figure for the following reason. A tendering process is ongoing which, legally, needs to be seen through. Having said that, as part of the process, I have indicated to the Deputy that the two Departments which have some responsibility - my Department and the Department run by my colleague, Deputy Humphreys - are collaborating and discussions are ongoing to ensure services for the islands will be maintained because of the valuable work done.
I am a little confused. The Minister mentioned the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht as being the lead Department.
Yes.
I thought the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, was in the Department of Social Protection. I thought the Minister of State, Deputy Joe McHugh, was in the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
The Deputy has the wrong Humphreys. I meant to say the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Heather Humphreys. Hers is the lead Department. It is a matter for the Minister of State at that Department, Deputy Joe McHugh.
There could be a role for the Department of Social Protection which gives the money. If one looks at the tendering process for SICAP, one will see that there is no provision under it to make this allocation to the development companies on the islands. Will the Minister confirm that this is a correct reading of the tendering process? Therefore, it will have to be a special allocation. Will the Minister confirm that regardless of whether it is the responsibility of the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, the Minister of State at that Department or the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, there will be a sum for the island development companies, give or take €500,000 or €600,000, to continue the vital work being done to ensure the sustainability of the islands, because without the development companies they are not sustainable?
I have been clear about this. A process is under way. As a former Minister, the Deputy has been in this role. I understand what he is saying about the group of islands, but some are involved in the tendering process. One must respect this. I have to respect it, regardless of whether the Deputy does. There is a time period for dealing with concerns expressed, a process in which the Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is involved. When we see the results of that process, we will collectively ensure there will be an adequate amount of funding for the islands. I am very confident and intend to ensure that will be the case.
