Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 271: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if her attention has been drawn to the recent initiative launched by the Childhood Development Initiative, Tallaght West, A Place for Children; if her attention has further been drawn to the CDI's need for €15 million in funding over three years for this initiative; if it is intended to designate a single lead Department to co-ordinate all Government funding for CDI, consistent with the terms of the Government amendment to a Labour Party Private Members' motion on 24 October 2004, committing the Government to better coordination of funding to improve the west Tallaght area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40262/05]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Tallaght West Childhood Development Initiative is a ten year strategy which was launched by the Taoiseach in October of last year. At that time, the Government welcomed the goals and aims of the initiative and it is clear that the strategy is the result of an enormous amount of work at community level.

The objective of the strategy is to improve children's health, safety, learning and achieving and to increase their sense of community belonging. The Government has put a number of initiatives in place with the ultimate aim of improving children's lives in areas such as west Tallaght. As a Government designated geographic area of disadvantage, namely, a RAPID area, it has been estimated that approximately €27 million was spent in the year 2004-05 by statutory bodies on children's services in the part of it covered by the strategy. The project recognises this. This is a substantial sum in the area concerned. Developments through this and other programmes in the areas of education, health and youth justice at national level are mirrored in the approach outlined in the childhood development initiative's ten-year strategy.

A number of meetings between representatives of this and other related projects have already taken place with the relevant Departments' officials.