Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 October 2014
319. Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide an update on the social inclusion community activity programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39108/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department’s Local and Community Development Programme (LCDP) is the largest social inclusion intervention of its kind in the State. The current Programme officially ended at the end of 2013 having operated for four years with funding of €281m over that period. It is being implemented on a transitional basis for 2014 with a budget of €47m pending the roll out of the new Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) in April 2015. The SICAP is one of my key priorities and its budget for next year will be decided in the 2015 Estimates process.
The Programme’s target groups are:
- Children and Families from Disadvantaged Areas
- Lone Parents
- New Communities (including Refugees/Asylum Seekers)
- People living in Disadvantaged Communities
- People with Disabilities
- Roma
- The Unemployed (including those not on the Live Register)
- Travellers
- Young Unemployed People from Disadvantaged areas.
In accordance with the Public Spending Code, legal advice, good practice internationally and in order to ensure the optimum delivery of the services to clients, the Programme is subject to a public procurement process, which is currently underway. Stage one (Expression of Interest) has been completed. Stage two (Invitation to Tender), will get underway later this month and will involve the successful applicants from Stage one being invited to apply to one or more Local Community Development Committees, in Local Authority areas, to deliver the programme. Contracts for SICAP will be determined following the outcome of the procurement process.
The public procurement process is a competitive process that is open to Local Development Companies, other not-for-profit community groups, commercial firms and national organisations that can provide the services to be tendered for to deliver the new Programme. In Stage one, joint applications were encouraged and organisations of varying sizes (for example smaller organisations working in consortia with larger organisations) were invited to submit joint applications. The results of Stage one were released on 24 September.
I am satisfied that the procurement process underway is in line with good practice and that the procurement documentation on e-Tenders contains all the relevant information on the process. I look forward to the outcome of the procurement process and the roll out of SICAP in April 2015.
