Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

This was the practice of local government when I was a member of a local authority. Local authorities simply deemed all the applications valid and left it to the Minister to make decisions. It is important to engage local government, the members of which have a feeling for what is happening in their areas. This would be helpful in identifying particular and real needs.

The Minister already has in place the RAPID structure and analysis. If analysis and identification were enough, all these problems would be solved. Now is the time for delivery. We blind ourselves with figures and statistics but local communities believe there is no follow-through. All of us are tarnished with the paint of failure in this regard.

The funds in question are held in dormant accounts in financial institutions. In a week when AIB has posted the most significant profits of any publicly quoted company in the history of the State, it is essential to take a close look at the operation of banks and the banking system. We are all in favour of such institutions making profits but there must also be a sense of justice and balance. There has been a significant focus on banking accounts in terms of the DIRT inquiry and the ongoing investigations into money laundering. This has generated interest in how banking and money processing are carried on. We have a responsibility in this area because we attract much foreign investment through our financial services sector. Robust instruments must be in place to ensure the State operates its financial mechanisms in an extremely transparent way. We have now begun to put the necessary resources into play in this regard.

This country is blessed with a significant spirit of voluntarism as evidenced in the major army of people who give their time. Unfortunately, however, it is a diminishing crew because we are becoming more akin to the norm in other states where voluntary effort is not fully appreciated and is nothing compared with paid effort. I hope these moneys can be targeted for the benefit of those most in need, not with the taint of political patronage and the expectation of the bended knee of political payback but in an independent justice system that is based on the analysis of real needs and transparent delivery.

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