Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome Ms McIntyre, Mr. Beattie and their colleagues. That was a very exciting statement and Ms McIntyre's concluding remarks referred to the need to have the political institutions working in the best interests of all the people, North and South. It is a good challenge to have to be able to spend money and I have no doubt but that you and your colleagues will be up to it.

This is our first committee meeting since the death of Jacques Delors, former President of the European Commission. He was instrumental in supporting the initial PEACE programmes and the Cathaoirleach will recall that at that time, the late Albert Reynolds, as Taoiseach, involved people in politics, particularly those from the Border region, in making suggestions as to the kind of PEACE programme that should be established. It is important that we recall the work of the late Jacques Delors, the late John Hume and the late Albert Reynolds in putting in place the first initial programme. Ms McIntyre has outlined that €3.39 billion has been spent, predominantly in the Border counties, North and South, in giving a range of new services and facilities to communities and in really making a huge difference over the years. She outlined the great depth and width of this particular programme, touching every facet of life. It is really heartening to hear that and that €1.14 billion is to be spent over the next few years. It is a very substantial amount of money and I am sure that it will make a difference in our communities.

I am glad that Ms McIntyre referred in particular to the very hard-to-reach groups, as that is an issue that concerns this committee all the time. Programmes are designed and oftentimes, the better resourced communities, that is, the communities that may have a greater level of employment and of affluence, can be in a position to prepare good applications to draw down funding within the programme. I have a concern in this regard. Quite rightly and understandably, there is a demanding application process. It is public money and we all want to see it put to good use and wish to see good applications come forward. Is there assistance for groups that are not well resourced to prepare applications? At times, it can cost money to hire somebody to prepare an application. Some of the groups I am thinking of that should be benefitting from this programme might not have the resources to put together a worthwhile programme that will meet the SEUPB's application criteria. If some assistance could be given to some groups in that respect, it would be important. As Deputy Tully would be aware, the local authority in our own county has a PEACE programme officer who assists different groups and prepares applications for our own local authority. I presume that is reflected in other areas as well.

We all know, particularly those of us representing Border communities, how beneficial the initial PEACE programme and its successor programmes have been in developing community facilities and in developing small enterprise units that gave rise to employment, as well as in assisting youth programmes and cross-Border youth programmes in particular. Ms McIntyre also mentioned that there may be some supporting activities to counter trauma through art, music, storytelling and sport. Is the provision of new or upgraded sporting facilities, or both, eligible for funding under this particular programme? I think oftentimes, we do not give enough importance to the value of sport in bringing people together and in providing an outlet for people by providing necessary recreational and sporting facilities for people of all age groups. I mean recreational sporting facilities not just for young people but for people of all age groups. I would appreciate some clarification on that.