Vol. 440 No. 7
117 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Social Welfare the plans, if any, he has regarding the establishment of a community development project in Drogheda, County Louth; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Drogheda, being the second largest urban area in the county, has a high level of unemployment and that the Drogheda resource centre plays a major role on behalf of community groups and the unemployed; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Under the community development programme which I introduced in 1990 financial assistance is provided to assist in the setting up and maintaining of local resource centres which provide a focal point for community development activities. There are now some 41 local centres around the country participating in the programme. The projects act as a resource to other local community and voluntary groups and help those groups to work together and with statutory agencies to address the problems of the area.
This year the Government has provided an additional £700,000 for the community development programme, bringing the overall allocation in 1994 to £2.2 million. The increased allocation will make it possible to set up a number of new projects around the country and a number of proposals for the setting up of projects have been received in my Department, including a proposal from the Drogheda resource centre for the unemployed. These proposals are at present under examination in my Department.
