Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

It is difficult not to feel that this is a scheme that no Department really wanted. It has been transferred a few times. If one applied to a Department for funding for a road or a school, one has to go through a process before the project makes it into a budget for the year. This does not appear to meet that criterion. It is very loose, and yet, it is not as if there is a lack of worthwhile projects on which money could be spent. I refer to intervention training for youth justice workers, or victims of crime. There are other projects involving training support for home carers, or community-based models of support for people with dementia.

Regarding training support for home carers, there is an action plan of €500,000 and not a penny of it has been drawn down, yet this is a group that is very deficient in the supports it receives. Is it not within the ability of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, for example, to devise a scheme for home carers such that the money can be drawn down? It beggars belief, particularly given the years involved.