Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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27. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development his policy on the development of the RAPID programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8821/18]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister will agree with me that we often hear about the challenges facing rural communities. However, they pale into utter insignificance when we compare them to the challenges faced by those living in urban disadvantaged areas. I received a call recently from a lady who spoke to me about a school the Taoiseach had visited. Down the street from it will be located a 100-bed rehabilitation unit and the first legal injecting room for illegal drugs in the country. She asked me how the people living in that community could keep their children away from it. What will the Minister do about the RAPID programme or has the Government destroyed it completely?

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I launched the new RAPID, revitalising areas by planning, investment and development, programme in November 2017. The programme provides support for groups which are tackling social exclusion and is aimed at improving quality of life for residents in disadvantaged urban areas and provincial towns across the country.

Under the new programme, funding has been provided on an equal basis for each local authority area. The local community development committees, LCDCs, in conjunction with municipal districts, are responsible for allocating funding to individual projects at local level.

Officials of my Department are carrying out a review of the RADID programme prior to a new launch planned for May. The focus is on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the programme. Feedback has been requested from the LCDCs on specific issues, including whether the scheme should be amalgamated with the communities facilities scheme and whether there should be any change in how funding is allocated to local authority areas.

I expect to receive a report on the review, together with recommendations for proposed changes, by the end of April.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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We must be living in the most reviewed country in the world because every time I ask a question here, I am told a review is being done. Will the Minister explain how he can justify giving a town like Ballina the same amount of money as Dublin? I am not belittling the problems in Ballina but is the Minister telling me they compare to the totality of the problems faced in Dublin where just north of the river there are gardaí going around with machine guns trying to keep the peace? From what the Minister is saying, it is not evident that there is any urgency with this. How can he justify giving the city of Dublin, which has huge problems of social disadvantage despite being called a successful city by the Government, the same money he is giving to much smaller provincial towns?

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will have to respect the fact the scheme was closed for many years until I opened it in November 2017. I accept it was late in the year. I provided €2 million for Dublin and €3.5 million is ring-fenced for Dublin this year for the north inner city.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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In the RAPID programme.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Yes, in the RAPID programme. The money is ring-fenced and rightly so. The Deputy is quite correct. I am glad to hear the Deputy say what he has said. There are very serious problems in inner city Dublin, which is where we launched the new programme in November. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and I launched it in Charleville Mall library in the north-east inner city. It was brilliant to see parents and children involved in home learning and other facilities. That is why I gave the €2 million. I divided the rest of the money equally among the local authorities throughout the country. I am reviewing it. The Deputy is correct. I want to be able to give more funding to bigger urban areas rather than the smaller urban areas. That is why I opened the scheme in November. I am very pleased I opened the scheme. It provided €2 million for inner city Dublin and there is €3.5 million ring-fenced for this year. I am pleased the scheme is open. It is a scheme that was closed for a long time and I am glad it is open again because we have a lot of disadvantage in a lot of urban areas around the country.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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What specifically will the Minister do for the south inner city area from the south bank of the Liffey down through the Liberties where there are massive problems? There are huge problems and I can put the Minister on to people in the area who will bring him on a walking tour of the area if he does not know what is going on there. Is there any structure that involves the people living in the apartment complexes and housing estates who suffer the greatest social disadvantage? Is there anybody on the committees directing these programmes? If not, they are doomed to failure. We had local representation on the AITs. Can the Minister confirm that the scheme was closed by the last Fine Gael-led Government?

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, keeps me well informed about what is happening in inner city Dublin. I have had many meetings with her over the past year and I have dealt with many social problems. We provided some funding at the end of November for some areas that were experiencing serious disadvantage. I know well what is going on in inner city Dublin, which is why we set up the task force. It is why we put extra funding into it this year. It is why we have €3.5 million ring-fenced for the coming year. There are many problems there. When the old programme was in place, it was done by 52 groups which were there from when the RAPID programme was set up. I have now reduced that to 31 groups and have given the funding to local authorities. The local authorities are on the ground and it is the local authority members who understand what is happening and see the deprivation that is there. That is why I gave it to the local authorities and allowed them to make the decisions on the capital funding.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I had a call from Deputy Carol Nolan, who is caught in traffic, so I will move on to Question No. 29 by Deputy Ó Cuív.

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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Deputy Nolan asked me to take her question.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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She cannot ask Deputy Kenny to do that. She has to get the approval of the Ceann Comhairle to do that. If she arrives, we will facilitate her.