Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The problems and issues that have emerged in the Dublin north inner city area reflect the criminal manifestation, with the appalling murders of so many people, and it has had an impact on the community, families and particularly young people. There is a prevalence of gangs who influence the behaviours of young people and perhaps affect their subsequent performance in school and school completion. In the past I asked for an assurance that the money being directed to the much needed projects in the north-east inner city would not be taken from other areas with significant needs, in other words that additional funding would be provided over and above the baseline funding. How much of the investment is new investment over and above the baseline?

The deeper problem remains the decision to scrap local development activities, which were having a big impact. When I met the organisations more than a year ago they made the point that much of the infrastructure that had been built up in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with regard to community-based activities and area task forces, got disbanded. Research shows that targeted disadvantaged initiatives can have a big impact. We did introduce quite a number of them and they had an impact on literacy levels, numeracy levels and school retention. They worked best when linked to wider local development programmes at the time. The time has long arrived when we should empower new local taskforce structures to plan and tackle issues in our most disadvantaged communities.

The centralisation and politicisation of the area is not working. It should not take major outbreaks of violence, such as those we have witnessed in the past year or two, for locally-led development planning to return. It is not just in the north inner city. It is in many disadvantaged communities throughout the country where, in many respects, the foundations put in were taken away too quickly. There was a political element to this back in 2011 and 2012, when certain politicians who came in felt there were too many people on these boards and local development groups whose political colour they did not like. I do not mean Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Labour Party. We heard references from people. The then Minister, Phil Hogan, in particular, had a bee in his bonnet about this, which is why the Leader project in rural Ireland was undermined. The same thing happened with local drug taskforces and area development committees. A lot of damage was done and we are beginning to see some of the outcomes of this. We need to go back to the tried and trusted models that did work but that need consistency and sustainability over a long period of time.

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