Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 29 September 2010
1759 Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs if he proposes any actions within communities or groups as a result of recently launched publications designed to assist unemployed people, produced by the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33327/10]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, my Department has responsibility for a wide range of programmes and schemes targeting community, local and rural development. The key principle underlying our activities is the provision of support to enable communities to identify and address problems in their own areas. The overall aim is to provide support to communities, in the most appropriate way, as they work to shape their own futures, address their own common goals and achieve their full potential. In terms of encouraging and promoting employment, enterprise and community activity and participation, my Department manages a number of key programmes, including:
The Local and Community Development Programme which specifically supports individuals into employment and self-employment through education, training, work experience, job placement, enterprise and the social economy in urban and rural areas. Funding of €67.5m has been made available in 2010 for the Programme;
The Rural Development Programme 2007 — 13 under which funding of some €425m is available for the purpose of improving the quality of life in rural areas and promoting the diversification of the rural economy;
The CLÁR Programme, which provides co-funding to help accelerate investment in selected priority developments in areas that have suffered significant depopulation. Funding of €8m is being provided for the Programme in 2010; and
The RAPID Programme, which, through its focus on deprivation and social exclusion, seeks to address the impact of the economic downturn on vulnerable communities and to provide opportunities for social and economic recovery.
As I said at the launch of the INOU publications, the changed circumstances in which we live require a sharpening of focus for us all in terms of addressing the nature of the problems which now present themselves. In response to the changing context in which disadvantage is being experienced, effective support at local and community level is a key part of the programmes my Department supports.
