Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 3 Mar 1998

Vol. 488 No. 1

Written Answers - Community Group Funding.

Joe Higgins

Ceist:

208 Mr. Higgins (Dublin West) asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government his Department's view on the way in which local authorities could co-operate with environmental organisations by grant aiding their research and public awareness activities, apart from the environmental partnership fund mechanism established by his Department in 1997; and if his Department is willing to encourage local authorities to offer small to medium grants to non-governmental organisations at local level out of their existing budgets in the spirit of the 1995 local agenda 21 guidelines. [5482/98]

Minister for the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Dempsey)

Local authorities are enpowered under section 5 of the Local Government Act, 1991 to promote the interests of their local communities. Their powers in this regard include promoting, organising or assisting in research, surveys and studies regarding the local community.

While the use of such powers is a matter for local authorities themselves to determine, my Department would welcome local authority support, in the spirit of the Local Agenda 21 Guidelines, for the activities at local level of non-governmental organisations.