Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 13 Oct 1999

Vol. 509 No. 2

Written Answers. - Community Development.

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

123 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the financial assistance paid by his Department in each of the past three years to women's organisations and groups or organisations providing services primarily for women including the name of the organisation or group; the amount paid; and the purpose for which it was paid. [20047/99]

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

124 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the financial assistance paid by his Department in each of the past three years to men's organisations and groups or organisations providing services primarily for men including the name of the organis ation or group; the amount paid; and the purpose for which it was paid. [20050/99]

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 123 and 124 together.

The Department's grant schemes provide support for community and personal development work undertaken by a wide range of local self-help groups, including women's groups and men's groups. This support is provided under a number of different schemes. The individual schemes are designed to meet different aspects of the support needs of local groups and are linked to form an overall framework of support and progression path for community and family support groups at different stages of development.

It is acknowledged that disadvantaged women and men, in both urban and rural areas, can experience particular problems arising from poverty and marginalisation and that women's groups, men's groups and community groups generally have an important role in tackling these problems. Particular emphasis, therefore, is placed in the various grant schemes operated by my Department on support for community-based initiatives targeted at disadvantaged women and men. Schemes of particular relevance in this regard are the community development programme, family and community services resource centre programme; community development education and training grants scheme; scheme of grants for locally-based community and family support groups.

The following table sets out the amounts allocated and the number of men's and women's groups which received funding under these schemes, as outlined above, in the years 1996 to 1998 inclusive:–

TABLE

Year	Men's Groups			Women's Groups
	amount	No. of grants	amount	No. of grants
	£		£
1996	150,000	103	1,125,000	791
1997	127,120	80	1,162,265	*485*
1998	53,520	46	1,329,648	784

*The lower number of individual grants as compared with 1996 and 1998 reflects the fact that grants to ICA guilds in 1997 were paid via county federations.

Details of funding made available under my Department's programmes/schemes, including the names of organisations and groups receiving funding, the amount paid and the purpose for which funding was allocated, have been made available to the Oireachtas Library each year since 1990 for the information of Members. Details of funding allocated in 1999 will be made available in early 2000.