Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)

Go raibh míle maith agat. Tá an diomá orm nach bhfuaireamar deis ráiteas a dheanamh mar tá go leor leor ceisteanna gur cheart a árdú le linn na díospoireachta seo. I am quite disappointed because I do not think this is a real debate but rather more of a back slapping exercise. The community and voluntary sector which I am in contact with is a sector in crisis. It is in crisis because of the cutbacks in funding that have happened under the previous Administration and which are being followed through by this Administration. Structures have been dismantled. A group of people working on a project in Dublin have told me that children are going hungry because of the cut in funding to community and voluntary organisations. It is a scandal that the House is not delving into the much more substantial issues in the community and voluntary sector. Many fundamental questions need to be asked about the fundamental philosophy behind the possible centralisation or alignment of the services. Where is the evidence that the services provided under the community and voluntary sector will be served better by alignment with local authorities?

The Minister stated that the cohesion process resulted in a significant rationalisation of local development structures. I agree that it did this by reducing the number of structures but I question whether it delivered a better service. I contend that it did not because in many cases the rationalisation of those local development structures meant that those services were taken away from the communities. It meant that the people involved in the local development and in different local projects lost the power when the funding was taken away and put into a much more political arena of the local authority which is not necessarily a good thing.

I will give a practical example. I was involved in a local development company in 2008. I did an analysis of the cost of employing an employee in the local development organisation as opposed to the local authority and the relevant Department. The figures showed it cost on average €43,000 a year to employ a person in the Department, €73,000 a year in the local authority and only €34,000 in the local development company. It was much cheaper to employ people locally in those community development projects than to employ them in the more central organisations. I do not believe there is any evidence to show that the realignment suggested by the Minister is in any way more efficient and will deliver a better service and will serve the people in the communities who are marginalised, who are suffering and who need help. These people have had their funding cut. I do not think there is any evidence-----