Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I pay tribute to the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, on the work he is doing in the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. He is known as a straight talker who adopts a pragmatic approach to the issues of the day. He has introduced practical measures to address the issues for which he has responsibility and, as a Deputy for Dublin North-West, with my colleague, Deputy Carey, he is very familiar with the position on the ground, particularly with regard to disadvantage.

The Minister of State will be remembered for his pragmatic approach to the new scheme under development in the Ballymun area. It will become a tribute to him and the Taoiseach, both of whom have invested a great deal of time and effort in improving substandard flat developments throughout Dublin city and beyond. When the history of the period since 1997 is written, the commitment made by Government to replace substandard flat schemes, particularly in the inner city, with much higher quality housing will feature prominently. This has been done quietly by the local authorities with Government support. All of us will benefit when the various projects are brought to conclusion.

I served with the Minster of State on Dublin City Council when he was chairman of its housing committee. His pragmatism, evident to all during that period, is again evident in the approach he has taken to drugs, housing and other issues in his current portfolio. The Residential Tenancies Act, for example, is practical legislation which has resulted in improvements in the private rented sector.

The Dormant Accounts Act 2001 and the Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Act 2003 were enacted to address the issue of dormant accounts in financial institutions. The dormant accounts fund is managed by the National Treasury Management Agency, while disbursements of the fund is the responsibility of the Dormant Accounts Fund Disbursements Board, established on 5 June 2002. The board prepares a disbursement plan, presents its objectives in making disbursements and the strategy for achieving them and sets out the priorities for each of its areas of activity. Money is spent on persons who are economically, socially and educationally disadvantaged and those who have a disability. The board's plan sets out disbursements to RAPID, CLÁR and drugs task force areas and it has been engaged in this activity since its establishment.

The Minister announced a change in regard to the Dormant Accounts Fund Disbursements Board last year. However, the Government is committed to maintaining an open, transparent and accountable process for dealing with applications for dormant accounts funding. That commitment is honoured in this legislation in various ways, which I will outline if time permits.

Area Development Management Limited was hired by the Dormant Accounts Fund Disbursements Board to undertake the job of evaluating and processing applications against certain criteria. The board does not currently have its own structure and staff. Staff have been seconded from within the Civil Service and the chairman is part-time. This situation is unsatisfactory. Under this new legislation, however, the board will still have a major role to play in tracking Government decisions, accessing allocations and reporting on its activities. The Government can bring the expertise of the entire system to bear on this process under the new arrangements set out in this Bill, by involving all State agencies in the advisory process.

I welcome that the current ad hoc arrangement will be put on a statutory basis. It is proper that the Government should allocate funds. We live in a democracy and the elected Government is accountable to the Oireachtas. I make no apologies for the changes announced in this Bill, which will bring a greater efficiency and comprehensive thinking to the process of allocating funds having regard to the policies of the various Departments. Under these new arrangements, the costs of distribution will be kept to a minimum. Government schemes administered by the various Departments will benefit in this regard. The Government is ultimately responsible for implementing strategies and it is welcome that this fund will feed into the overall system in a joined-up manner.

In my constituency, the structures in place to deal with disadvantage include a RAPID programme in regard to the Bunratty Road Maisonettes, the Dublin north east drugs task force and the Northside Partnership. These three groups do tremendous work in tackling disadvantage in this area. As a member of the board of the Northside Partnership, I have experienced at first hand the work done in co-ordinating policies to tackle disadvantage in parts of Dublin North-Central.

Another body contributing to this work is the Young People's Facilities and Services Fund, which has successfully brought forward many proposals that would not otherwise have come to fruition. The services provided by the community development programme are of absolute necessity in areas of disadvantage and I welcome the expansion of that programme over the years. Behind all this is the national anti-poverty strategy into which the policies of the various Departments fit and which is working well.

Some say the Celtic tiger has not benefited all areas. However, the effectiveness of the RAPID programme in the Coolock area, for example, disproves this contention. A site in this area was completely derelict some years ago and two schools located on that site were forced to close because of a shortage of pupils. The condition of that site today is indicative of the moneys that have been spent under the various programmes over several years.

The Northside Civic Centre was established through a grant of approximately £6 million from the OPW. Another development is the Coolock Development Centre, in which enterprise units were established through substantial funding from Enterprise Ireland and money was provided to expand the buildings of St. Michael's House. President Mary McAleese yesterday officially opened the offices of the Northside Community Law Centre, formerly the Coolock Community Law Centre, in the Northside Civic Centre. Several State agencies are also accommodated in that centre, including Dublin City Council, FÁS, the Money Advice and Budgeting Service and a social welfare office. The local community radio station is also housed there.

That once derelict site with two empty schools is now thriving with economic and community activity. This happened over the short period since 1997 and proves that the structures to tackle disadvantage are working. I am sure there are other parts of the city and country where more needs to be done but I acknowledge and welcome what has been achieved in this particular RAPID area.

The structures in place to tackle disadvantage must always be open to review. In this regard, I welcome the commitment in the agreed programme for Government, published in August 2004, that the boundaries of these structures will be kept under constant review. I will have suggestions in this regard in due course. There is a case for examining the structures to discover whether there is some duplication or overlap of activities and whether amalgamation or further co-ordination is required.

An extensive section of the programme for Government relates to the building of an inclusive society and deals with such issues as health, education, crime, older people, pensions, children and child care, disability and caring, supporting diversity and tolerance, asylum and immigration, equality and law reform, tackling drug abuse and regenerating disadvantaged communities. While the much abused phrase, "A lot done, more to do" is somewhat appropriate, progress has been made in the regeneration of disadvantaged communities. I call for full implementation of the various measures announced in the agreed programme for Government. This Bill is necessary as the time has come to review disbursements from the dormant accounts fund. It will bring about increased co-ordination in Government policies aimed at tackling the plight of the disadvantaged in society.

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