Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 72: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the supports provided to enable Traveller communities access employment through his Department's community development programme since 2002; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42675/06]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Travellers are one of a number of target groups that benefit under the Community Development Programme. While a significant number of the 182 projects currently within the Programme would identify Travellers among beneficiaries of their activities and services, 21 projects specifically focus on providing Traveller support.

Training courses, support groups, provision of information, work experience, and childcare provision are examples of the type of supports typically made available. Traveller projects also provide employment opportunities for Travellers as Co-ordinators and/or Development Workers within the projects.

Funding for Traveller projects under the Programme from 2002 to 2006 is outlined in the following appendix.

Furthermore, community development projects act as a conduit for funding from other statutory agencies. In this way, many further employment opportunities also exist for outreach workers/health workers and so on for the Travelling Community. It would not be possible for me to provide a breakdown of such instances as projects do not provide information to the Department in respect of the background of employees.

In addition to this, my Department, with the assistance of Community Development Projects, introduced a scheme of work placements for Travellers in 2005. The objective of the scheme is to provide positive short-term work experiences and training opportunities for Travellers that will prepare, encourage and support participants in seeking employment.

During 2005, twenty-two Travellers in 17 Community Development Projects benefited from an eight week-long work placement scheme. This scheme received funding of approximately €58,000. In light of the positive results achieved during the 2005 scheme, I have provided funding to facilitate Community Development Projects with further placements in 2006. Fifteen projects employing 26 workers for a 12 week period will receive funding of approximately €108,000.

In addition to the Community Development Programme, several projects related to the Travelling community are funded by my Department as part of our support for the community and voluntary sector under the White Paper on Supporting Voluntary Activity. The National Traveller Women's Forum receives approximately €47,000 per annum under the multi-annual funding arrangement. This arrangement is for three and a half years, ending mid-2007. The National Association of Travellers Centres receives €35,000 per annum towards their provision of informal education to the Travelling Community in Ireland through its youth work services. Their aims are to support the provision of a comprehensive Youth Work Programme of Activities throughout the country for young travellers.

The Exchange House Travellers Service receives €20,000 per annum. This is an organisation of Travellers and settled people working together which aims to provide quality outreach family support, a welfare rights service and to assist in community development, youth services, money and advice and budgeting. The Department also provides multi-annual funding to the Irish Traveller Movement of €150,220 per annum. Their objective is to ensure Traveller human rights issues are put on Government policy agendas through the participation in a wide range of Government Committees and within the wider Community and Voluntary Sector.

In addition, quite a few projects related to the Travelling community are provided with once-off funding by this Department under the Programme of Grants for Locally-Based Community and Voluntary Organisations. Projects which provide employment opportunities for Travellers are also funded under the Community Services Programme.