The organisation referred to by the Deputy has had a contract with my Department's Community Services Programme (CSP) for the provision of a range of transport services for people with disabilities. Along with some 315 other organisations, its contract with the CSP expired at the end of December 2009. It has since been extended to the end of 2010 on the same terms and conditions. Under the CSP, the organisation receives one of the larger contributions to deliver services with funding of the order of €289,000 being provided towards the costs of employing a manager and 13.5 full-time equivalents posts in 2010.
As the Deputy will appreciate, the pressure on the public finances has significantly impacted on resources available to the programmes delivered by my Department. My priority with respect to the CSP has been to protect the jobs of some 2,700 people employed by the 450 or so community-based organisations approved for support. In order to do this, it was necessary to reduce the level of non-wage grants paid to service providers, as well as cutting technical assistance and administrative costs.
I have provided a review process where an immediate examination of the impacts of the reduction in support to organisations can be undertaken. Accessible Community Transport Services lodged an review request in late January and I expect a recommendation to be made to me in respect of this matter no later than the 5th March. Finally, it should be noted that organisations providing services under the CSP are required to develop non-public forms of income by way of charging fees, trading or fund-raising, as the programme is not designed to cover the full operating costs of supported organisations.