Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for the answer, but it is a hands-off answer implying the matter has nothing to do with the Government and that it is up to the LCDC. This is not the case given the consequences of not funding the LCDC properly and the fact that the fund is already allocated based on the tender.

The tender under which this group was operating was not successful. It does not fall under the canal communities partnership which only offers a forum for people with disabilities. It does not want a talking shop. It knows what the issues are and was quite successful. It is talking about a sum of €30,000 to ensure there is inclusion. The idea behind SICAP, all of the programme partnerships and the original SDPs was to ensure social inclusion. This is a group of the most marginalised people in society, some of whom were in the Visitors Gallery earlier as they expected this debate to be held earlier. They are now meeting Deputies from different parties. The people in the group I am meeting are in wheelchairs and blind or have other disabilities. They will feel frustrated when they hear that the body implementing the programme will deal with this issue. In some ways, it is too late. The person concerned has been laid off, the service is suffering and they have to scale back severely in planning for the future because they do not have other sources of funding. I hope local politicians and businesses will give them some of the money they need, but funding was available. They are not seeking a huge pot of money. They want somebody to represent them and open doors to help them to gain access for themselves and others. This was a cut to social programmes throughout the country. The cut in Dublin was €740,000 and it is now beginning to take effect. Job losses are occurring. It affects those delivering community services, be it in Ballymun or Whitehall where there have been substantial job losses. Senior citizens living in Donore have lost one of their workers through no fault of their own but through the fault of some of the partnerships which did not include them in the programme. Will the Minister of State give a commitment on behalf of the Minister that he will step in and allocate money until the next tender comes up for consideration and the group proves once again that it should have been included in the first tender process by both partnerships that bid for the money? It is the Minister who has the money to put in, not Dublin City Council.

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