Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

No. Senator Cullinane might be well used to being subservient in the manner in which his party deals with opposition in the community, in particular in Northern Ireland but we do not subscribe to that view.

We are aligning the community sector with local government to ensure that the elected person, who has a mandate from the people, is centre stage and has the more powerful voice.

There has been no cut in the local community development programme in 2014 over and above 2013, so there is no difficulty with the funding. What we are trying to do is to ensure the community sector and the local government can pool their resources in difficult financial situations and times to be able to get the maximum benefit for the people they and we represent.