James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

SICAP is extremely important to tackle poverty and exclusion. In my county of Wexford, 27 areas are designated as very disadvantaged, in which a total of 6,500 people live, while another 30,000 live in disadvantaged areas. County Wexford has considerable potential, due to its geographical location and Rosslare Europort, and it will, I hope, see the development of the university of the south east, with a strong section of the university located in County Wexford. The areas of disadvantage, however, are under severe pressure, and while Brian Keogh, the CEO of Wexford Local Development, is doing phenomenal work, there is an element of trying to feed 5,000 with a few loaves and fish. Tom Enright, CEO of Wexford County Council, is also doing his best for the county. Some €1.7 million has thus far been provided under the current programme, which is approximately half of what a similar programme provided ten years ago. The very disadvantaged areas in County Wexford need additional funding. I return to one of my bugbears, the CLÁR programme, which has not been adjusted since the census of 2002. Some areas in County Wexford have been depopulated in that time and they are losing out on CLÁR programme funding. They are not included in the CLÁR programme because it has not been updated. Only two counties, Kildare and Wexford, outside of Dublin are not on the CLÁR programme, but Wexford very much needs to be included.

See this speech in context