Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 21 Oct 2003

Vol. 572 No. 6

Written Answers. - Departmental Programmes.

Dan Boyle

Ceist:

102 Mr. Boyle asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the way in which and the extent to which the RAPID pro gramme is to be resourced in view of his recent commitment in a speech in Killarney that the programme will be an effective means of tackling urban disadvantage. [24020/03]

David Stanton

Ceist:

103 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the amount which has been spent on the RAPID programme since its introduction; the areas and programmes which have benefited from allocations from the RAPID programme to date; and the amount which has been allocated to each. [24154/03]

Breeda Moynihan-Cronin

Ceist:

106 Ms B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the specific steps his Department intends to take to ensure that actions targeted at disadvantages areas, such as the RAPID and CLÁR programmes, operate effectively in regard to the commitment given in Sustaining Progress; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24061/03]

Dinny McGinley

Ceist:

108 Mr. McGinley asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs his proposals and views on a fourth measure to be set up in the LDSIP programme for RAPID areas; if it will apply to partnerships which have RAPID in their area; and the percentage of the LDSIP programme budget expected to be allocated to the fourth measure in 2004. [24162/03]

Tom Hayes

Ceist:

127 Mr. Hayes asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if a fourth measure is set up in the LDSIP Programme; if this will form additional funding or form part of the existing LDSIP budget allocation; if partnerships which do not have RAPID in their areas have a reduced allocation to cover the RAPID partnerships which need more funds to support RAPID areas under the fourth measure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24163/03]

Pat Rabbitte

Ceist:

131 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the progress made to date in regard to the implementation of the RAPID programme; the number of areas in respect of which plans have been submitted to his Department; the total projected budgets for these plans; when work on the implementation of the plans is likely to get under way; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24070/03]

Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (Éamon Ó Cuív)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 102, 103, 106, 108, 127 and 131 together.

As the Deputy will be aware it is the role of my Department, supported by ADM, to coordinate the implementation of the RAPID programme. It is, therefore, a matter for each of the other Departments to report on progress on the implementation of the programme in relation to proposals that fall within the remit of their own Department.

Plans have been prepared for each of the 45 RAPID areas and proposals from these plans have been forwarded by ADM Limited to relevant Departments for consideration. Proposals from 32 RAPID areas were relevant to my Department and the estimated cost of these proposals is in the region of €65 million.

Proposals from RAPID plans relevant to my Department fall to be considered under the community development programme, CDP, funding for local drugs task forces and the young peoples facilities and services fund, YPFSF.

Allocations of funding to six new community development projects in RAPID areas were announced earlier this year. Projects in Bluebell, Dolphin House, Inchicore, Merchants QuayUshers Quay, Longford town and Tipperary each received a renewable one-year contract for funding of €60,000. In addition, in 2001, core funding was provided under the CDP to St. Munchin's CDP – £100,000 (€127,000) was provided to the building project and €25,000 was paid to St. Munchin's in 2002 towards equipping the centre.

An amount of €1 million was also allocated under the premises initiative to a local drugs task force project in Tallaght. In addition, the Deputy should note that since the establishment of the RAPID programme, my Department has provided approximately €3 million by way of support to the local areas in the preparation and implementation of their plans and administration costs associated with the support team in ADM.

Proposals for funding under the YPFSF will be considered in the context of decisions to be made under round II and in the light of the overall funding position for 2004. I continue to be committed to the implementation of the RAPID programme and I believe that RAPID can contribute significantly towards tackling urban-large town disadvantage. However, as I have said in the past, I am unhappy with certain aspects of the programme. In particular, I consider that a large number of proposals have been submitted unnecessarily to Departments for consideration. Many of the small, localised actions from the plans could be dealt with more efficiently at local level.

To this end, I propose that funding will be made available to RAPID areas for these small localised actions in 2004. This funding will be used as leverage money to enable local bargaining, negotiation and co-funding to take place. RAPID area implementation teams will be involved in this process. The actual amount of funding that will be available will be determined in the context of the ongoing estimates process. Officials in my Department are making the necessary arrangements with relevant parties to enable this approach to be operational from 1 January 2004.

Finally, as regards CLÁR, the measures introduced under the programme were decided after consultation with the communities in the areas concerned. Furthermore, they are, for the most part, operated in tandem with the lead Depart ments or agencies, as appropriate, thus ensuring coherence and effectiveness by public bodies in delivery of such measures in CLÁR areas.

Question No. 103 answered with Question No. 102.

Seymour Crawford

Ceist:

104 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the number of electricity conversions from single to three phase which have been grant aided on a county basis through the CLÁR programme; if he has satisfied himself with the uptake under this scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23929/03]

Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (Éamon Ó Cuív)

Since the introduction of the single to three-phase electricity conversion scheme in August 2002, a total of 56 businesses in 14 counties in CLÁR have been assisted.

Cavan	2
Clare	1
Cork	9
Donegal	18
Galway	1
Kerry	1
Leitrim	5
Longford	2
Louth	1
Mayo	6
Monaghan	1
Roscommon	5
Sligo	3
Tipperary	1

There is no fixed allocation to counties included in the programme for this funding, as it is a demand led measure. However, I believe the success of the measure is reflected in the level of uptake – 12 businesses availed of the assistance in 2002 and 44 to date in 2003 – in the counties involved.