Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I fully concur with the Deputy on the need to keep an eye on money and to make sure it is spent where it should be spent. Pobal is a private company. It is not a statutory company or agency and it is important that one would understand that.

What is proposed is a 33% cut in funding for 2009, as referred to by Deputy Broughan, relating to administration and overhead funding. It is not commensurate with overall funding for programme delivery for 2009. The reduction in the administration funding available to Pobal reflects an emphasis on the prioritisation of front-line services over intermediary and ancillary supports.

As the Deputy is probably aware, Pobal administers a range of programmes and schemes on behalf of my Department, namely, the local development social inclusion programme, LDSIP, to which Deputy Broughan referred, and the dormant accounts fund, DAF, which will give rise to less activity next year because it has less money. It is inevitable that this would happen over time. We are considering the structure of the community services programme, CSP, in order to streamline it. Other programmes include the RAPID programme, the rural social scheme, RSS, and grant schemes to community and voluntary organisations. The overall provision in the Abridged Estimates for 2009 for these programmes is just under €175 million.

As previously indicated to the House, my primary concern is to make every effort to ensure that the front-line services provided by, or supported through, my Department — especially those focused on the needs of the most socially deprived communities — are protected. That is being achieved by requiring significant administrative savings in my Department and public bodies within its ambit, through the cessation of the use of intermediary bodies, such as community development support agencies and by reducing administrative overheads across bodies such as Pobal. In that way, the wide range of services my Department provides, including services under its social inclusion programmes, can be broadly maintained.

It is appreciated that Pobal has had a key role in the delivery of successful local development services and programmes for many years for several Departments. The Government has acknowledged the work and commitment of board members past and present, both individually and collectively in contributing to the many achievements of the company. It is those achievements and commitment that gives confidence that the board of Pobal will support the Department in prioritising the restricted resources that will be available in the coming years in the interests of the programme beneficiaries. Intensive discussions are ongoing with Pobal in regard to how the administrative costs and overheads can be reduced while maintaining service delivery at 2008 levels.

The situation amazes me but it is inevitable in politics. We are told there are too many overheads and too many administrators. We hear that every day from the Opposition. I have been trying to rationalise this sector for a long time, as it was all over the place with community partnerships, area partnerships, Leader companies and Leader partnerships. There was a significant amount of companies. I have streamlined all of that and I will keep streamlining it.

Deputy Broughan might disagree with me but my absolute obligation is to get the money on to the ground. We have to look after the money but that does not have to be done through the creation of endless reports that do not determine the value for money on the ground. I am determined to protect front-line services for people who need them and if that means cutting administrative overheads then so be it. I look every day at ways of cutting the administrative overheads right across all of the agencies under my Department. I am right to do that. I have been doing it for a long time.

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