Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 116: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if her attention has been drawn to the RAPID report, which outlined the socio-economic deprivation in Tallaght west, and the report entitled How are our Kids?, which found huge inequalities in the provision of education, with 27% of children leaving school with no qualifications, while 34% finished at junior certificate level; if, in addition, according to Combat Poverty, almost one fifth of the population was at risk of poverty in 2004 and, in view of these reports, if her Department had any meeting specifically on the findings; and the new measures, sanctions or proposals she proposes to introduce in response to the considerable problems highlighted. [4562/06]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware, RAPID aims to ensure that priority attention is given to tackling the spatial concentration of poverty and social exclusion within the 45 designated areas. The priorities for each RAPID area are identified locally by each RAPID area implementation team, and are incorporated into a plan for each area. In west Tallaght, RAPID covers three areas, namely Killinarden, Jobstown and Fettercairn.

RAPID is implemented locally by a cross-sectoral area implementation team, AIT, and is supported by a RAPID co-ordinator. The city and county development boards monitor the programme locally. The RAPID national monitoring committee, chaired by the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Ó Cuív, oversees the programme nationally. Each RAPID area has produced a plan for the implementation of the programme in its community. These plans contained a variety of proposals to Departments and State agencies for the funding of new projects. They also contained proposals to improve local co-ordination of public service delivery. I assume this is the RAPID report to which the Deputy refers.

Some small-scale proposals from communities are responded to through a range of dedicated RAPID funds, which resource projects such as playground developments, small-scale housing estate enhancements, small-scale community health initiatives, equality for women measures and traffic safety measures. Larger-scale local proposals are responded to through Government prioritisation of RAPID areas in the use of mainstream departmental resources and in the allocation of funds such as dormant accounts, the equal opportunities programme, the sports capital programme and the community-based CCTV programme.

Existing programmes in the Tallaght RAPID areas include, inter alia, playground schemes, local authority housing estate enhancement scheme, sports capital programme funding, the traffic measures scheme, health projects, parenting, child and family services and after-school services, community-based CCTV, Garda diversion and drugs task force projects.

The How Are Our Kids? research project undertaken by the childhood development initiative and Dartington social research unit was published in October 2004. The report was one of eight preliminary research documents which culminated in the publication of A Place for Children, a ten-year strategy by the childhood development initiative in Tallaght west.

As the Deputy is aware, the ten-year strategy was launched by the Taoiseach in October 2005. 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 Tallaght west. 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. I know the project recognises that.

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. In December 2005, the Government announced the bringing together of a number of functions relating to children and their well-being in the Office of the Minister for Children, OMC, to bring greater coherence to policy-making for children. In that context, the Office of the Minister for Children will co-ordinate developments on this matter on behalf of the Government.