Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 29 September 2004
1265 Ms B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if his Department is reviewing any or all of the community support and community development programmes and schemes under the auspices of his Department; the nature, objectives and time scale for this review; the programmes being reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21494/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraI refer the Deputy to earlier questions on this matter, in particular to my reply to Question No. 151 and related questions on 4 February 2004, Questions Nos. 100 and 102 on 9 March 2004, and Question No. 127 on 27 April 2004.
In implementing the Government decision detailed in those replies, local and community development groups were invited to make proposals for improved alignment of structures in their respective areas. City and county development boards were asked to co-ordinate this process. As indicated in the earlier replies, funding of €3.09 million had been earmarked to support specific co-ordinated measures arising from this process.
Proposals have been received from all CDBs and have been assessed by an external consultant engaged by my Department. As a result of this process, I have approved proposals from Fingal CDB for funding. These proposals were very focused on improving current arrangements with regard to resources, staffing and geographic coverage. There were many other good ideas put forward by the other CDBs. However, they were asked to take a more focused look at their proposals and to resubmit these by 1 October. I intend to have these proposals assessed very quickly with early decisions on funding support.
I hope to be able to build on the ideas put forward as part of this process with a view to including the review of local and community development structures in the first half of 2005.
As I indicated last April, the first step in the process of restructuring ADM was the nomination of new board members by Government. In the interim the Government nominees have been appointed to the board. It is my intention that my Department will work closely with ADM to develop the changes to the memorandum and articles of association of ADM necessary for the implementation of the Government decision with regard to restructuring the company.
In addition, I have made some changes to the community development programme. This programme supports locally-based groups involved in anti-poverty and social inclusion initiatives in their communities so that they can have a role in decisions which affect them, contribute to a process of change in their areas and improve their quality of life. To this end, financial assistance is provided to projects towards the staffing and equipping of local resource centres which provide a focal point for community development activities in the area and to other specialised projects and initiatives.
A sum of €20,604,000 has been allocated to the programme for 2004. There are 190 projects included in the programme, of which 175 are in receipt of funding, including five projects on offshore islands. A further 15 pre-development projects have been approved in principle for inclusion in the community development programme. A sum of €500,000 has been set aside to fund these projects later this year. Arising from the review of local and community development structures, the Government has decided that public bodies and Departments should look to existing structures for delivery of new local or community development initiatives. In this regard, the Government also decided that any further community development projects established will be on the basis of maximising recourse to existing structures. Of the 15 pre-development projects included in the programme, 14 have submitted work plans. My Department is meeting with those groups to determine how their projects can be brought on stream in 2004, in a way which maximises recourse to existing structures.
In line with the Government decision arising from the review of local and community development structures, the process of significantly reducing the funding available for intermediaries, such as regional support agencies, has continued. This serves to maximise resources available for community benefit. The number of such agencies with which my Department has a contract under the programme has been reduced from 13 to six. The six successful tenders commenced their contracts from 1 July 2004.
