Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 30 May 2000

Vol. 520 No. 1

Written Answers. - Capital Programmes.

Jack Wall

Ceist:

354 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the new services or extension of existing services contained in the new national development plan funded by his Department which have commenced or will commence in the south Kildare constituency during 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15254/00]

Jack Wall

Ceist:

355 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the capital programmes contained in the national development plan and funded by his Department which have commenced in the south Kildare constituency during 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15269/00]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 354 and 355 together.

My Department has been allocated funding of approximately £365 million in the National Development Plan, 2000-06.

My Department's equal opportunities child care programme has been allocated £250 million to invest in the development of child care service provision. On 28 April last I launched capital and staffing grant measures under the programme and to date almost 3,000 request have been received for application forms. There is no closing date for applications as the programme is being operated on an open ended process. It is not possible to say at this stage how many projects will be funded in any county during 2000.

My Department has been allocated a sum of £23.2 million for positive actions targeted at women. The plan provides for positive actions to tackle vertical and horizontal segregation of the labour market and for the development of family friendly initiatives. There will also be a focus on addressing the needs of women in the home who are seeking to avail of labour market opportunities, supporting gender balances in decision making and assisting disadvantaged women. In addition, my Department has been allocated £4 million for a gender equality and monitoring unit to mainstream equal opportunities between men and women across the national development plan. There is no specific capital element to these measures. The location of projects for 2000 has yet to be finalised.

There is provision within the national development plan for a programme to prepare prisoners for employment after their release. The programme is an expansion of an existing activity which has been taking place over a number of years in the prisons and it is based on a pilot research project which has been carried out within the last two years with EU funding. This is a co-ordinated programme within the national development plan, both as regards the agencies within my own Department – the prisons and probation services and the Garda Síochána – and with other state bodies working in this field. The total expenditure on work and training that is planned in prisons is approximately £46 million. There is no provision in the prisons element of the national development plan either for services or capital programmes for implementation in 2000 specifically located in the south Kildare constituency.

The probation and welfare service of my Department has been allocated funding under the national development plan of almost £25 million. The proposal in respect of this funding will target a number of groups such as those under 25 years who have been before the courts and are likely to re-offend and become long-term unemployed. Another target group will be women, particularly young women with drug problems and those with families whose lives are disrupted, for example, by domestic violence. The programmes to be put in place under the national development plan relate to developments across the regions as needs apply. It is not possible at this stage to say how many offenders in south Kildare will be referred to the probation and welfare service by the courts, or will be in custody to avail of the projected developments there. There is no capital expenditure planned for this year.

Funding of £16 million has been allocated for a significant expansion of the Garda youth diversion development programme. The projects in this programme aim, through a combination of intervention and preventative actions, to divert young people from becoming involved in criminal activity and its consequences. The long-term objective is to enable the target group of ten to 18 year olds to integrate into the labour force in a systematic manner and to prevent them from becoming unemployable. It is proposed to expand the number of projects on a phased basis over the life of the plan. I have recently announced the first ten projects to be established in the first phase of the expansion. A second phase will be announced later this year. An application has been received for a Garda youth diversion project in Kildare to serve the Maynooth, Celbridge, Kilcock, Clane and Prosperous areas. The proposal is currently being considered by officials of my Department in conjunction with the Garda authorities. There is no capital element to these measures.