Dáil debates

Thursday, 26 November 2009

5:00 pm

Photo of John CurranJohn Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

The local development social inclusion programme is a series of measures designed to counter disadvantage and to promote equality and social and economic inclusion. The LDSIP forms part of the National Development Plan 2007-2013 but is still being carried out under the guidelines of the 2000-06 programme pending the transition to a new programme in 2010. The new programme, called the local and community development programme, will preserve elements of good practice from the existing CDP and LDSIP programmes and will be rolled out in 2010.

The LDSIP is implemented locally by 37 integrated local development companies and 16 urban partnerships. These are not-for-profit companies that target the areas of greatest need in the country to provide an area-based response to long-term unemployment and to promote social inclusion under three measures: services for the unemployed, community development and community-based youth initiatives. All implementing bodies are companies limited by guarantee, without share capital. Implementing bodies have flexibility to prepare local development plans that respond to local economic and social needs. Each of these bodies prepares a strategic plan setting out objectives, actions and targets across the three measures designed to address poverty and social inclusion in their areas. Actions funded by the LDSIP involve integrated responses to the multidimensional nature of social exclusion which are grouped into these three areas of activity. Since the beginning of 2009, the LDSIP has achieved full county coverage as a result of the completed cohesion process.

The Avondhu-Blackwater Partnership is a newly integrated company following the merger of Avondhu Development Group and Blackwater Resources. The 2009 allocation under the LDSIP programme for the company is €501,270. The area of operation stretches from Ballyclough in the west to Araglin in the east and Carrignavar in the south. The integrated company also includes the newly expanded area for the social inclusion programme of Blarney. The greater Blarney area has a population of more than 27,500 people. The total population of the area of operation for the new company is in excess of 70,000 people.

In 2009, the key areas of work for the local development social inclusion programme include supporting collaborative initiatives to promote access to employment and training, the design of innovative pre-employment training for especially vulnerable unemployed people, and the referral of clients to other supports and services under the services for the unemployed measure. The "equality for all" project in Mallow and the integration project in Fermoy will bring a strong focus to this work.

Under the community development measure, the emphasis is on projects supporting interculturalism, community training, facilitation of groups involved in social inclusion, actions to support volunteering in the community, and the further development of local networks such as the north Cork Traveller forum and the north Cork immigrant forum.

Under the community-based youth initiative measure, the emphasis is on supporting a small number of local collaborations, including an innovative youth arts programme. A further key area of work in 2009 is capacity building in the greater Blarney area. The emphasis will be on developing the capacity of existing and newly emerging community groups and supporting the establishment of new networks.

Rationalisation of the operations, staffing, accommodation and so on of all the companies is at an advanced stage. It is a matter for the board of the Avondhu-Blackwater Partnership, as an independent limited company, to manage within the programme budget allocated to it and to deploy its staff and resources in the most effective way to achieve programme delivery. In advance of decisions in the 2010 budget, it is not feasible to anticipate levels of funding available for the new local and community development programme next year.

Decisions of the type to which Deputy Sherlock referred are quite properly a matter for the board of the company. The Deputy spoke about governance and I will ask officials in my Department to have a look at it. The key decisions to which the Deputy refers are rightly the decisions to be made by the board.

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