Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)
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I am glad that Pobal is looking at this because as times get busier, it gets harder and harder to find volunteers in communities who can commit the time required to stay with projects. We need a certain resilience. We get a lot of people presenting with nice ideas and nice projects but to actually deliver such projects on the ground, we need people to commit and stay with them through their development and into their achievement and delivery. I have been involved in both local and national politics for almost 20 years. Like Dr. Ó Broin, I grew up in the 1970s and have seen the ups and downs in various communities. I represent a rural constituency and know that local volunteers are finding it harder to deal with high levels of bureaucracy. Some people call it bureaucracy while others may call it accountability and there is a balance to be struck here. Of course we all want good governance but we can overdo the bureaucracy to such an extent that it becomes a barrier for local communities. They get frustrated and scared by it and do not have the time to commit to it but Dr. Ó Broin seems to recognise that, which I acknowledge and welcome. We must ensure the programmes that are available through Pobal are accessible, especially to more vulnerable, isolated and disadvantaged communities. We must support such communities in accessing supports, grants, funding and professional expertise.

I am delighted to hear Pobal is examining and evaluating ways to lessen the bureaucracy or accountability involved for community projects, and that is not to take from the need for proper governance. We all have to learn from the mistakes of the past. We must acknowledge mistakes were made. Where public funds are being expended, they must have as positive an impact as possible. We must strike the right balance, make such funds accessible and allow communities know that there is support available without scaring them away with over-burdensome bureaucracy, form filling and all the rest of it.