Damien English (Meath, Fine Gael)

It is like the leaving certificate where one gets extra points. The Minister of State will have a busy summer travelling throughout the country announcing these funds and handing out cheques. I look forward to pursuing him as he does so. However, many of these programmes are under much pressure and need increased grants because of increases in the costs of insurance and staff. Can he examine the programmes which have received grants over recent years to see if it is possible to provide them with extra money? These announcements, which include some new schemes and some new places, will be made in the next few weeks.

With regard to multi-annual funding, is it possible to give projects a commitment over a number of years? In that way, people will not be obliged to spend half the year trying to raise money through golf or poker classics or by whatever means to guarantee money for the following year. They could get on with the job we need them to do, that is, tackling drug abuse and helping young people go down different routes by keeping them busy doing something else. Are there any plans to go down that route?

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