Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)

The times we live in are challenging and difficult and require leadership, inspiration and decisions to improve quality for life for people. On all three counts, the Government has failed. The budget will serve to bring further stress and conflict to families and communities. It will further undermine the years of good work done by community activists. Community development projects are not to be found in every community because they are not needed in every community. Community-based projects provide services that the private or public sectors cannot or simply will not provide. There are no community development projects in Blackrock or Foxrock because they are simply not needed there. People living in more affluent areas have better access to private and public services.

The communities the Government has attacked in the budget depend on services which are already overstretched and underfunded. Public services in working class communities are under strain because of ongoing funding cuts and the moratorium on public service recruitment. The community sector must take up the slack at a time when they have seen their funding disproportionately cut in comparison to the overall cut in Government spending. The Government has attacked every aspect of the community sector. The nature of the sector means that funding comes from several Departments, each of which has introduced cuts which are a massive 24% in the case of the Department of Education and Skills in respect of local drug task forces, 20% in respect of services to tackle educational disadvantage and 43% in respect of the provision of training by FÁS, yet funding for the Secret Service remains untouched. I often wonder on what that money is spent - it may be on hard hats, high collars and dark sunglasses for spies. Perhaps the Minister for Justice and Equality might tell us.

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