Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I do not agree with the Deputy. There are 45 RAPID areas. As the report notes, the way the programme operates on the ground has been uneven. We have been addressing the issues on a continual basis. Community development, of which I have long experience, is a slow process. Mistakes were made in the past. When a community was not interactive and found it hard to self-motivate, it needed to be recognised that it would take time to get the best results in that community.

I did not design the RAPID areas. I accept there are issues to be considered. As I stated at the recent RAPID conference, I have noticed that the smaller, strand 2 areas, where there is more of what I would call the village effect identification issue, have had more success and more interaction.

One issue which I will consider is the size of RAPID areas. For example, there are a number of RAPID areas in Tallaght but only one in Clondalkin. If one operates the area implementation team, AIT, over an area in which there is no natural interaction because the sheer numbers mitigate against that, it is fair to suggest that it will be harder to achieve close identification. Smaller communities always have more identification.

I pointed out time and again one of the challenges faced in urban Ireland — I spoke about this in the presence of the Deputy's party leader last night. If I attend a meeting in a village in rural Ireland, like Ballycroy, to launch a community plan, 300 of the 600 souls who live in the parish will attend. If I go to a similar meeting in Tallaght, which has a population of 85,000, 150 might attend. One is obviously interacting with fewer people.

There are challenges. However, instead of walking away from the challenges, we asked this group to compile a hard-hitting, independent report. It set out many positives. However, we are not shirking the issues. We asked the group to identify the weaknesses, which we are now addressing.

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