John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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23. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of his Department's review of the RAPID programme; the improvements that have been made as a result of this review in 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19012/18]

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister made funding available under the RAPID programme for 2017 and 2018. Will he explain the Department's review of the programme and when will it be complete? Will he assure the House that the funding provided under the programme will remain targeted at the areas of greatest disadvantage?

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Officials in my Department are carrying out a review of the RAPID programme, with a view to developing an expanded and enhanced programme to support disadvantaged communities. The overall aim is to ensure communities get the most benefit from any available funding and that funding is delivered to those who need it most in as efficient a manner as possible. Matters being considered include whether the programme should be amalgamated with the communities facilities scheme, an examination of the method of allocating funding under the programme and other more administrative issues. The funding will continue to be channelled through the local community development committee, LCDC, structure because such committees are best placed to identify the most suitable projects locally.

The review process included an invitation for feedback from the LCDCs. The review is almost complete and I hope to make an announcement on a new programme in the coming weeks.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his response. Since I submitted this question I have since received some information because of my concern that the funding made available for the programme in 2017 was not necessarily targeted at the areas of most disadvantage. The Minister allocated €64,500 to each local authority in 2017. My local authority covers more than one RAPID programme area. I have discovered that one project received €32,000, but it is the only RAPID programme area in my constituency - it is in north Clondalkin - and the project is a general one serving the entire constituency, not just the targeted area. I do not want to be critical of the project because it is a good one; rather, my point is that the RAPID programme area in north Clondalkin did not receive targeted funding. I have the specific details for the Minister. If we are to run a true RAPID programme, the areas of most disadvantage must be recognised and their communities' needs met but the latter did not happen in 2017. Instead, there was a general spend across a wider area.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I accept the Deputy's comments. That is why I am reviewing the scheme. As the Deputy has been fair, I will be fair in response. The scheme had not been open since 2008. When we set up the new Department last year, I was anxious to receive funding. A criticism made by local authorities and LCDCs was that I had allocated the funding too late. What I am hoping to do with the new scheme is to identify the areas of most need. Last year approximately €64,000 of the national total of €2 million was given to each local authority. Some €3.5 million has been ring-fenced for Dublin's inner city. The Deputy and I both know that other areas in Dublin also face problems. They need to be identified, targeted and supported. I hope to be able to do so and have the programme announced by the end of May. That is the reason for the review. I do not want to see funding going to areas that do not need it; it should be targeted. I happened to be in inner city Dublin recently and was pleased to see the way in which the funding was targeted, for example, playschools for mothers and toddlers, as well as other schemes. I was proud of how it was all working. We were targeting the areas that needed funding the most.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Is there a final comment?

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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There is. The Minister is proud of the success of the scheme in the north-east inner city, but my concern is that, although he identified the amount of funding that had gone to that area, areas of significant disadvantage in other parts of Dublin are only receiving a sum of €32,000. That amount is not proportionate to the challenges facing them. It is welcome that the Minister has reopened the programme. He must ensure funding goes to those areas. In my constituency the RAPID programme area is north Clondalkin. There are other areas of disadvantage, but the area of greatest disadvantage has been identified. Funding should go to it.

The Minister will have to fight for the funding required. I acknowledge he can be dogged and determined, and we will support him in this. Funding of €2 million for a national programme is not significant enough, considering that the Minister is putting more into the inner city alone than the rest of the country. He is seeing the result of this, which testifies to the benefit of the programme. I want to see in every disadvantaged community investment at a scale that will bring meaningful results.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I cannot disagree with anything the Deputy says. I would love to have more funding. I will have to try to get more. This is a very important scheme. The day any Government or society forgets about the people in need, who need to be targeted, supported and helped, is a sad one. That is why the scheme is up and running now. I have had it reviewed and can now consider ways of targeting to ensure needs are met. Last year, there was a serious difficulty at Cherry Orchard. I allocated €100,000 at the end of the year to support that community in addressing its difficulties. Inner-city Dublin is affected but the Deputy is quite correct that this is not just a Dublin problem; there are problems all over the country. Local authority funding of €64,000 was made available. I would love to see a lot more funding than that. I must consider, however, all the other programmes, including the SICAP and the committees programme. There are many other programs to support and target. There is not just one programme; there are many others. I want to ensure we do not operate in a piecemeal way and that we consider all the programmes to ensure they are all targeting the right areas and that we are not trying to spread resources too much.

I accept the comments of the Deputy and I am reviewing the scheme. I am considering operating the communities programme along with it. These are two small programmes and it would be better to target the areas that need resources must.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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If all Deputies, including Ministers, co-operate, we might just get six questions answered. We are two questions behind so I ask everybody to obey the time constraints to be fair to those who are hoping their questions will be answered. I understand it is often necessary to take a few seconds more than allocated but the Members should try to adhere to the time allowed.