The community development support programmes (CDSPs) provide financial assistance to locally-based groups involved in anti-poverty and social inclusion initiatives in their communities, towards the staffing and equipping of community resource centres and other specialised projects and initiatives. In the region of €21.3 million has been provided in 2003 to meet my Department's commitments under these programmes. In 2002 some €22.5 million was provided to these schemes. This compares with €16.15 million in 2001 and €13.7 million in 2000.
There are currently some 190, of which five are based in County Kerry community development projects and issue based groups receiving support under the CDSP. Of these, 160 are in receipt of core funding and 30 are approved, in principle, for inclusion in the programme. Notwithstanding the current tight economic situation, I am pleased to confirm that I will be able to allocate funding to 15 of these groups with effect from September 2003, in fulfilment of Partnership 2000 commitments. In this regard, each project will receive a renewable one year contract for funding totalling €60,000 and assistance towards start-up costs up to a maximum of €27,000 per project. Pre-development work is under way in the remaining 15 pro-actively targeted areas and I hope, subject to available resources, to be able to fund these groups in 2004.
The projects currently based in County Kerry are:
South West Kerry Womens Association, Cahirciveen;
Tralee Womens Regional Centre, Tralee;
Kerry County Network of People with Disabilities, Tralee;
Tralee Community Development Project, Tralee;
Kerry Travellers Community Development Project, Tralee.