Vol. 533 No. 6
385 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will consider an application for funding for an organisation (details supplied) in County Westmeath which is involved in helping young people at risk; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9703/01]
394 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he has received an application from Mullingar for funding under the special projects for youth at risk scheme as operated by his Department; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that there are no facilities for marginalised youth in this area; if his attention has further been drawn to the fact that the number of juvenile prosecutions has risen steadily in this area; and if he will give this application special consideration. [9962/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 385 and 394 together.
The Government has allocated £16 million under the National Development Plan 2000-2006 to finance an increase in the number of Garda youth diversion projects.
To date, I have launched 22 NDP-funded projects in two phases, and I will announce a further and final phase of new projects in due course. In this context, an application to establish a project in the area to which the Deputies refer is receiving consideration.
386 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will reconsider his decision to refuse a grant to a community play school (details supplied) in County Limerick. [9704/01]
As the Deputy is no doubt aware, this Government has committed £250 million to the child care measure under the National Development Plan, 2000-2006. In April of this year, I announced the availability of capital and staffing grants for child care providers under the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme, 2000-2006.
Under my Department's equal opportunities child care programme staffing grants are available for community-based not for profit groups. As outlined in the general guidelines for the funding measures, applications are assessed according to the following criteria: the socio-economic and demographic profile of the area; the quality of the proposal; the capacity of the applicant to implement the project; the level of integration and co-ordination; and the costing and value for money of the proposal.
A number of factors are considered in assessing applications including the location of the service, the extent to which it will enhance child care provision in disadvantaged areas, the extent to which the project will maintain or increase the number of places and the extent to which the service will facilitate parents in accessing training, education and employment opportunities.
With regard to the community play school in question, an application for a staffing grant was received in my Department's equal opportunities child care section from this facility on 4 December 2000. Following a technical assessment by Area Development Management Limited, the application went before the programme appraisal committee on 22 February 2001. In this case the programme appraisal committee recommended that the project should not be funded on the basis that the application did not rate highly against the criteria of the equal opportunities child care programme. Following consideration of the recommendation of the programme appraisal committee, I made my decision not to approve funding to this application on 7 March 2001 and a letter issued to the group on 8 March 2001 in this regard.
In making my decision, I requested my Department's equal opportunities child care section to put in place arrangements to discuss, with the management committee of the group, the issues arising from the recommendation of the programme appraisal committee. Officials from my Department's equal opportunities child care section have been in touch with the group and, I understand, a meeting was held on 27 March 2001 between representatives of Area Development Management Limited and the management committee of the group to discuss further the reasons for the refusal of the application.
