Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 374: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the provision which has been made in the 2006 Estimates for the provision of locks, alarms and so on for pensioners through local volunteer groups; the categories of pensioners who will be eligible; and if the scheme will be placed on a year round basis. [39703/06]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I assume the Deputy is referring to the Estimates for 2007, not 2006. Provision is made for Grants for Community and Voluntary Service under subhead K1 on my Department's Vote as published in the 2007 Abridged Estimates Volume. €26.548 million has been provided for a number of programmes including the Scheme of Community Supports for Older People — under which funding for security devices for older people is made available. The final allocations between the programmes operated by my Department under this subhead will be published in the Revised Estimates Volume.

The Scheme of Community Supports for Older People is open to people aged 65 and over who have a genuine need for assistance under the scheme and it is administered by community and voluntary organisations throughout the country with support provided by my Department.

When I launched the 2006 Scheme in May last, I decided to leave it open for the rest of the year, as distinct from previous years where a fixed closing date applied. Feedback from community groups in relation to this initiative has been very positive and, accordingly, I propose to introduce a fully open Scheme in 2007. I am confident that this measure will further assist these groups in administering this very worthwhile Scheme.