David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I compliment the work the Minister and her Department are doing in this area. The Minister is right when she says that local communities should have a voice. However, there are areas where local communities do not have a voice because there is no local organisation or community council or whatever established. If that is the case, that community loses out and quite often it might be the less prosperous communities that are involved here. Can the Minister tell me whether or not her Department or herself are looking at this area of community development where there are no community organisations established, to identify and maybe put in place a mechanism where these organisations can be encouraged and supported? There is also the issue of, and we spoke about Men's Sheds earlier, the administrative costs and other kinds of legal issues that community organisations have to be aware of now in order to protect their members and to go about their business properly, such as establishing themselves as companies, having charitable status and so forth.

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