Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 September 2018
78. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the policies and programmes he has introduced in order to reduce community and social deprivation in the most deprived urban communities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38605/18]
View answerMembers who are waiting should note this is the last question. We have only five minutes left. If Deputy Ó Cuív forfeits his introduction, he will have time for one supplementary question.
Agreed.
My Department's mission is to support viable, inclusive and sustainable communities throughout Ireland. In that context, it has a central role in tackling social exclusion and addressing deprivation in all communities, both urban and rural.
The Framework Policy for Local and Community Development in Ireland, published in 2015, focuses on tackling poverty, disadvantage and social exclusion and seeks to provide better ways of working with communities. A cross-sectoral group representative of all key stakeholders and chaired by my Department is developing an implementation plan for the framework policy.
I announced the second SICAP, covering the period 2018 to 2022, earlier this year. It has a funding allocation nationally of €38 million in 2018 and will provide some €190 million over its next five-year period. SICAP supports disadvantaged communities and individuals, including unemployed people, people living in deprived areas, people with disabilities, single-parent families, people on a low income, members of the Traveller and Roma communities and other disadvantaged groups.
I have announced €8 million in additional funding for the community enhancement programme, which I put in place earlier this year. The programme provides funding towards grants for community groups across Ireland. The allocation of funding is weighted towards those communities in most need. I have provided ring-fenced supports for particular areas of urban deprivation including, for example, €3.5 million for initiatives in Dublin's north-east inner city, an area suffering from extreme deprivation.
There is to be one supplementary question and one response. The Deputy should make the best of it.
The Minister's reply is extraordinary because he did not address the very specific question I asked about the most deprived urban areas. Can he confirm that although he brought back the RAPID programme, it is no longer confined to dealing with the issues in the most deprived urban communities? Can he confirm that, under the RAPID programme, the area implementation teams that used to be in each RAPID area where the locals were involved no longer exist?
That is not true. With regard to the community enhancement scheme, I have brought that down to the local authorities. I refer to the local community development committees, LCDCs. The Deputy always puts his hands up in the air. He reminds me of an umpire who gets it wrong when the ball goes wide. He does not know where he is; he wants the cameras. I am going to give him the figures. Very simply, I have brought this down to the local authorities, the LCDCs. Who knows best in Galway, Mayo, Cork, Kerry, Laois or Dublin where the poverty is and where the funding is needed most? The complaint the Deputy had on the last occasion was that I was not giving enough money to the bigger areas. I have done that. I started off with a base amount of €125,000. Then I took into account the areas based on their populations. Let me give examples of the areas that got the most funding. Cork city got €459,000 and Dublin city got €1,329,000. Fingal got €477,000 and south Dublin got €737,000. These are areas with real problems and difficulties. This explains the position regarding the community enhancement programme and SICAP. The latter has been a brilliant success. One hundred and ten thousand people have been dealt with and supported on a one-to-one basis. Five thousand-----
Go raibh maith agat. I have been overly generous all day. I have to move on.
I love giving the figures because Deputy Ó Cuív hates the figures. He hates the truth. These are not my figures. The Deputy just hates the truth.
If the Minister wants to continue-----
One thousand six hundred and ninety-five people-----
If the Minister wants to continue, he will have to go to MacHale Park or Pearse Stadium. That is it.
