Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire.

I am pleased the Minister, Deputy Ó Cuív is here. As he knows quite well, his Department has been in the firing line since the publication of the Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes, commonly known as an bord snip chaired by Professor McCarthy. I tabled this matter as somebody who is deeply immersed in the community and a former member of an AIT for RAPID. Having spoken to people in disadvantaged areas, I found they are concerned about the prospect of the RAPID scheme being disbanded. I understand they were talking in a vacuum because the budget has not yet been published and we have had no Government decision on the McCarthy report. However, it is important that we hear the direction we can expect the Government to take in the context of disadvantaged urban areas which are involved in the RAPID scheme.

The development of communities has happened as a consequence of RAPID. Its establishment allowed for investment to be made in tandem with councils and other agencies. It benefitted communities through empowering people and giving them an opportunity to build, strengthen and enhance not only the public realm but their lives, their social and educational skills and their opportunities. The value of RAPID was missed completely by the McCarthy report. One cannot quantify in monetary terms the investment RAPID has provided to communities, but it is fair to say it has improved the quality of life in them. I have been a public representative since 2004 and have been very involved with RAPID and see and welcome its benefits. The key point is that it has given people a new lease of life, a new way forward and a new road map.

Past generations of people experienced a revolving door which went nowhere. The RAPID educational opportunities focused on self-enhancement, self-empowerment and self-awareness which, along with the physical projects, allowed for immeasurable work and progress to be made. I hope the intention is not to abolish the programme because that would be a grave mistake and would send out the wrong message. I understand and appreciate that we are in difficult economic times and that cutbacks have to be made in certain areas and situations. However, telling the most vulnerable in our society that the cuts start with them sends out the wrong message to communities.

I passionately believe that the Minister is as genuine in his commitment to RAPID as he has been in the past. I say that with honesty because I am the spokesperson on this area for Fine Gael in the Seanad. I know the involvement he and the Minister of State at the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy John Curran, had and continue to have in it and that is why it is important to set out our stall early before the budget to give people hope. People have said: "Since RAPID came board the effect on the community has been absolutely astounding. You can feel a buzz and the community is very optimistic". Other people said, "We have a springboard project, new playground, sports facilities have been improved and new facilities have been developed, and after years of neglect we are seeing changes to the physical environment in partnership with local communities". Another person told me:

I can now talk directly to the superintendent in my area, explain to him some of the problems we are experiencing and we can work together to create solutions. I understand he cannot solve all our problems but we are working together and have made a good start. When we started the safety forum we had two or three pages of problems. Now each week we are down to half a page. That is real accountability and success.

These are quotes from the Togher and Mahon RAPID areas in Cork, with which I am familiar. I praise the people of Togher and Mahon who embraced RAPID and were encouraged by the Government and Cork City Council to do so.

The McCarthy report, if it is implemented, will condemn people to a life of struggle without cause for optimism. They will be at the last port of call for funding. I look forward to the Minister's reply and hope it will be positive. We must give a message of hope and optimism, and the people of Togher and Mahon in Cork city want such hope and vision continued through the partnership which RAPID has brought about.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Cuireann sé áthas orm bheith in ann freagra a thabhairt don Seanadóir. Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis as ucht na ceiste a ardú.

As the Senator is aware, I am passionately committed to the RAPID programme and I believe it is the first serious attempt to engage the most deprived communities in their own future. What often characterises disadvantaged communities is that quite large sums of State expenditure have been spent on them but the people living in the communities have never had a real say in what happened. I am delighted to have this opportunity to put on the record of the Seanad the future position of the programme.

As Senators may be aware, the programme was first launched in 2001 with the aim of prioritising and co-ordinating State assistance in some of the most deprived areas. Originally, 25 areas were targeted and this number has increased to 51 as the programme has gained momentum.

A central tenet of RAPID is that priority attention is given to designated areas by focusing State resources available under the national development plan. The programme provides economic, social, cultural and community benefits to the areas covered. There are a number of special measures built into RAPID to ensure the programme works effectively. For example, each RAPID area has a dedicated area implementation team as well as the co-ordinator. This team brings together local State agency personnel, the local partnership company, drugs task forces and residents of the local community to prepare a plan identifying the needs of each area.

One of the most important innovations of RAPID has been the stipulation that people from local authority estates must participate in the programmes and activities that help shape their community. At least three local community representatives participate on each RAPID team on behalf of their communities. These community representatives are local residents elected by their fellow residents in the community. I see these people as the real owners and drivers of RAPID. The community representatives know the position locally and know what needs to be done to tackle and solve local problems. The Department and agency members of the RAPID team must listen to and engage with the community representatives when they bring issues to the table.

An independent evaluation of the RAPID programme was commissioned in 2006 which recommended that to develop and enhance the programme through the lifetime of the 2007-2013 national development plan, it should be focused on seven strategic themes: community safety and anti-social behaviour, family support, youth support, physical environment, education, health, and employment and training. This recommendation has been pursued and the strategic themes have been established across RAPID areas.

Separately, to ensure the continued relevance of the programme and the designated RAPID areas, I commissioned through Pobal a study to develop small area deprivation indices based on an analysis of the most recent census data. The availability of small area statistics from the most recent census gave us the opportunity to look more closely than ever at levels of deprivation throughout the country to see if there were particular areas that through demographic change in recent years should now be included in the RAPID programme. I initiated this review last year because from my experience of visiting communities throughout the country, I felt that some areas that were not in the programme might have become eligible.

Based on the study, I proposed the designation of five provincial towns as new RAPID areas. This was accepted by Cabinet in May of this year. The new RAPID towns are Ballina, County Mayo, Dungarvan, County Waterford, Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Mullingar, County Westmeath, and Rathkeale, County Limerick. I am visiting each of these towns to hold a public information meeting on the programme. We held the first public meeting in Ballina on Monday evening and this successful event was attended by more than 100 people from the town, including local residents, public representatives, educators, State agency representatives and county council staff. I will visit each of the other four towns over the next few weeks and I look forward to our discussions there also.

The Government decision of May last also contained a formal commitment from each relevant Minister to the RAPID principle of prioritising resources and the provision of integrated services in designated RAPID areas. There was a renewed commitment by Ministers to the integrated delivery of services through, in the first place, committed and dynamic membership by their Departments and agencies of RAPID area implementation teams, even where other Departments take the lead role.

Senators will also be aware that the revised programme for Government of October 2009 expresses the Government's commitment to "continue to develop the RAPID programme that is giving local communities in the most disadvantaged urban areas a real voice for change for the better in their own communities". This is a priority. We will continue to tackle social disadvantage in the only way that works in the long term - positive action and strong community involvement.

We are in this for the long haul. It is unacceptable to us that children growing up in some areas of the country cannot expect the same level of educational attainment as their peers in other areas. We will continue to work towards equality of opportunity for all our children and we will continue to prioritise initiatives like the RAPID programme that make a tangible improvement to people's everyday lives.

I hope this puts the Senator's mind to rest once and for all because there is no intention to cease the RAPID programme. If we were to do so we would be doing a great wrong. The Senator has put into words most eloquently the work which the communities involved have indicated the RAPID process brings about. It gives such communities a real say and a place at the table in discussing their own development.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. I welcome his announcement that RAPID will not be eliminated and I am glad that element of the McCarthy report has been discarded. It is important to acknowledge the work being done across disadvantaged areas and I am delighted with the response.