Vol. 557 No. 4
363 Mr. O'Dowd asked the Minister for Health and Children the moneys available in his Department for the RAPID programme; the requests he has received for funding of the RAPID programme; the funding which has been granted to the RAPID programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22671/02]
Government policy is that RAPID is to be funded through the prioritisation of the identified areas and the front loading to them of a significant share of the funding allocated under the national development plan. Agencies have been asked to implement the programme from within their existing resources.
The Department of Health and Children has received approximately 215 proposals in respect of RAPID Strand I – urban areas. Some 57 proposals have been received to date in respect of RAPID Strand II – provincial towns. In relation to RAPID Strand I, officials from my Department have written to the RAPID co-ordinators and to the chief executive officers of the relevant health board or authority to request that they prioritise the list of projects for their board, paying particular attention to the top five priorities, consider re-prioritisation that could be made on the basis of RAPID type projects from their 2002 allocation and which could be implemented within existing resources and include as many prioritised RAPID proposals as possible in their service plans for 2003.
Proposals for RAPID Strand II were received in the Department on the 4 November and are currently being processed. An internal group comprising representatives of relevant units within the Department of Health and Children has been established to ensure co-ordination with health board counterparts in service areas for which RAPID proposals have been submitted.
