Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

With regard to the number of meetings, the steering committee met in November of last year and in January, April and July of this year. A further meeting will take place before the end of this month.

I mentioned the President's award scheme briefly. Initial discussions have taken place between officials from the office of the President and from my Department. Further discussions will take place on issues such as the selection process and criteria for the awards over the coming months. I do not wish to anticipate the outcome of those meetings but they are being actively pursued.

I come from a very strong community development and youth work background. I have seen many community development projects being set up. Some have ceased to operate voluntarily because they have decided their remit no longer exists or that there are other community needs to be met. That is the essence of the community development process. Something which suits today and is fit for today's purpose will almost certainly have to be modified and adapted for the future. That is what we have been trying to do with the partnerships and the community development projects. When I was Minister of State at the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, many Members of this House were very persistent in asking that something be done about them. Of the intermediary bodies between the Department and the projects on the grounds, some were worthwhile whereas many were past their sell by dates, although they did good work when they were first set up. I am long enough in this business and can see some people present who were directly or indirectly involved during the days in which these projects were set up under the Combat Poverty pilot projects. A colleague of Labour Party Members, their late leader, Frank Cluskey, was instrumental in setting them up in 1973 or 1974. They have developed over the years. The model that works in Tallaght will not always work in Tubbercurry. The one that works in Finglas might not work in, for example, Falcarragh. 3 o'clock

When Muintir na Tíre was the leading community development organisation and Macra na Feirme and so forth were funded by the Kellogg Foundation, the Nuffield Foundation and others, those projects were always in experimental mode. Through a variety of project types, we have come a long way in refining and improving outcomes that make life better for everyone, not just those in disadvantaged communities. It has always bothered me that community development projects tend to be linked with disadvantage. The process of community development is as valid in an upper middle class area as in an area of high unemployment. Consolidation, redevelopment and restructuring of community development projects give us one part of that. What the Minister of State, Deputy John Curran, and the Minister, Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív, are doing in the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs fits this objective perfectly.

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