Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is calling this RAPID, which was the name of a previous programme. Under the previous programme, there were geographically defined areas in which we know scientifically from statistics there is the greatest level of deprivation. Can the Minister tell me if the funding is ring-fenced for the benefit of those areas, or have the LCDCs the power to spend it anywhere they want in the county?

Previously, when we had the area implementation teams, AITs, which are now replaced by the LCDCs, there were regular meetings around a table with the Garda Síochána, the HSE, the education and training boards, ETBs, and SOLAS to focus on these areas of concentrated disadvantage. I am concerned that the Minister seems to be diluting the scheme away from those areas. What mechanism has he got in place to focus specifically on the RAPID areas, or has he done away with the concept of a RAPID area as a defined area in which we know statistically that we have massive concentrations of disadvantage?

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