Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his opening statement. It is ironic that we are here while a discussion on the systematic destruction of the community development and anti-poverty and equality movement is ongoing upstairs in the AV room. They are discussing community development and how it has been destroyed during the years. I do not mean to take from the various schemes, grants and moneys that are moved here and there. However, I disagree with the Minister on SICAP. Some good work is being done, but SICAP replaced the social inclusion programme which had much better quality measures and fantastic initiatives all around the country before the concept of activation was brought into it. We have lost much of the intelligence and even some of the pilot projects that were conducted on many of the social issues at the time. The Minister and I will have to disagree in that regard.

I am glad that a review of the CSP is being conducted, which the Minister has indicated will be completed by the end of the year. Will the recommendations be made public and, if so, when? I ask because many CSP schemes are finding it very difficult just to meet their overheads due to having to pay the national minimum wage and meet the increasing price of insurance and so on. I ask the Minister to let them know where they stand as soon as possible. One cannot operate a programme while always wondering whether one can switch on the lights or afford the little things. One cannot be strategic and focused in the work one needs to do while worrying about next week's bills. The sooner the review is completed, the better and it is important that the recommendations be made public. In the interim, I ask the Minister to examine the ability of some CSPs to pay the national minimum wage. He knows about the issues in the insurance industry and the problems these groups face which we are trying to tackle in many ways. We are hoping to pass legislation before Christmas that may help, but what the insurance companies are demanding from some of the groups is bonkers. We need to meet their needs in some way.

I have a few questions about the budget. Some 550,700 social inclusion units were profiled and there has been a 1% spend. The obvious question is why only 1% has been spent at this stage in the year. How is that issue going to be addressed?

My other question relates to the dormant account measures. I am sure there is a logical explanation but why was nothing profiled for it? Brexit will have implications for the PEACE programme, but we are hopeful we will achieve a deal in the next 24 hours.

Has an agreement in this regard been reached by the Irish and UK Governments in the event of a no-deal Brexit? I have questions on the other measures but the Minister might address those matters first.

As to whether different programmes are targeting the right people, there is confusion about the criteria and what programme meets which criteria. Are all allocations to these programmes based on strict criteria or are political decisions made in respect of the allocations? Are there predetermined criteria or is there political influence in how the allocations are made?