Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

Yes, that is a separate issue. I have been engaging with the community section, which was subsumed into my Department. We are examining where services are provided across a range of Departments and agencies. We want to eliminate duplication and triplication, which is unsustainable. We want to ensure that core funding for these community organisations being assessed at the moment is provided on a county basis. Each county has built up an enormous number of agencies and organisations. The community sector is telling me that it wants certainty, streamlining and responsive delivery of services. I do not want to see the money I am allocating creating administrative posts. I want to see the money allocated on the ground for use on services for which the community has applied. We are engaging with local government and the community sector in order to have synergy between the objectives of the community sector and local government.

See this speech in context