Ms Anna Shakespeare:

If I can be of assistance to the committee, I know Deputy Tully had an interest in the deprivation index but I think it is helpful for the committee to be aware that with regard to the SICAP allocation, there is a finite pot of money that the State has. The Department of Rural and Community Development asked us to use the deprivation index to identify the areas of Ireland that are most disadvantaged, and the relationship between disability and disadvantage we spoke of earlier, on the basis of the more disadvantaged you are, the higher the allocation will be. Then there is a targeting model that goes alongside it. With regard to the AIM programme and other programmes, there is that targeted approach, and the funding goes to the parts of Ireland where it is most needed and where there is most disadvantage. The supports, insofar as they possibly can be, are tailored to ensure the individual can be successful. They are some of the learnings from the SICAP programme to date and over the years that it has run.