Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

): I am taking this Adjournment Matter on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Curran.

I thank the Senator for raising this issue and welcome the opportunity to update the Seanad on the current position on the new local and community development programme. As Members will be aware, the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs was established in 2002 against a background of concern at the multiplicity of structures and agencies through which local and community development schemes and programmes were delivered. It inherited a number of local and community programmes with diverse structures which had been operated under the aegis of several Departments. Clearly, there was an inherent danger of fragmentation of services and the diffusion of resources. The cohesion process initiated by the Department a number of years ago to address these issues resulted in a significant reduction of local delivery structures for a range of rural and local development programmes. Until last year, there were almost 100 partnerships or local development companies and Leader companies in operation. The cohesion process has resulted in that number being reduced to a total of 53 entities providing full county-wide coverage across the country. However, the Department still has a wide agenda of reform to advance. The next phase which is under way concerns improving and joining up the outputs of programmes, as well as further consolidating structures.

As has been outlined previously in both Houses, the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs has perceived the need to redesign the local development social inclusion programme, LDSIP, and the community development programme, CDP, drawing on best international practice and to support their ongoing evaluation. The LDSIP and the CDP were that Department's two main social inclusion and community development programmes and were delivered through separate local delivery structures. These programmes came to an end on 31 December 2009 and were superseded by a new programme, namely, the local and community development programme, LCDP. The aim of the new programme is to tackle poverty and social exclusion through partnership and constructive engagement between the Government and its agencies and people in disadvantaged communities. The LCDP preserves elements of good practice from the CDP and LDSIP programmes and will enhance monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.

An implementation strategy, involving the stakeholders, is under way for the LCDP roll-out in the course of 2010. The Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs has set out a model for integrated service delivery and structures at a local level which would involve, among other things, the reconstitution of the voluntary boards of the CDPs from the end of 2010. It has taken care in the implementation strategy for the new programme and allowed more than enough time to ensure the objective of integrated service delivery can be achieved. The Department and Pobal are providing a range of supports to ensure the process is successful.

I am aware there is opposition among some CDPs to the model for integrated service delivery and structures at local level set out by my Department. However, maintaining the status quo was never an option given the issues relating to the delivery of the old programmes, the concerns of the Committee of Public Accounts about the multitude of structures in the system, the criticisms in the McCarthy report and the current budgetary reality.

Our aim is to preserve and protect the volunteers on the current boards of CDPs by giving them new roles on advisory councils for the programme locally without the burden of company law requirements. This will reduce significantly the level of reporting to my Department and the Companies Registration Office, CRO. It will also have the useful spin-off of reduced overheads for audits, payroll and other back-office costs and will maximise the impact of available funding at the front line. However, it has been conveyed to CDPs and local development companies that if better models are proposed by them, these will be accepted as long as they achieve integrated and cost effective service delivery. It is also important to note that no decisions are required on any of these issues until mid-2010 at the earliest. Even then, the objective will be to secure local agreement on all issues before any final decisions are taken or implemented.

I am pleased to have been able to ring-fence funding for community development projects for 2010 and to maintain it at 2009 levels. In few other areas of public spending has it been possible to do this. The Senator will appreciate that ongoing funding for 2011 and beyond will be subject to budgetary considerations at the appropriate time. Neither is it possible to speculate on any terms and conditions attached to the LDCP funding that is to be made available to the local development companies from 2011 onwards.

My overall aim is to ensure that, notwithstanding the difficult budgetary position, disadvantaged communities will benefit from a more focused programme and better integrated actions. As previously indicated, my primary concern in this most difficult economic climate is to make every effort to ensure the front-line services provided by or supported through my Department, especially those focused on the needs of the most disadvantaged communities, are protected and to minimise overheads and ancillary costs.