Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 180: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs his views on the concerns raised at a recent meeting (details supplied); if in view of these concerns, he will re-examine the proposed areas of coverage for the new partnership schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32963/07]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I refer the Deputy to earlier Questions on this topic, in particular my reply to Question No. 106 of 29 November 2007 and my reply to Question 10 of 1st November 2007, relating to the cohesion process.

As indicated in these replies, the core objective of the cohesion process is the alignment of local, community and rural development structures to achieve full coverage by one integrated local development company within a given area. Following three years of exhaustive consultations with and between local agencies to develop the most suitable configurations of groups, Government decided on revised areas of coverage for local development companies in March of this year. As part of this consultation process, South Dublin County Steering Group, which operates under the aegis of the South Dublin County Development Board and includes representatives of the KWCD and Tallaght Partnerships, proposed new arrangements in relation to the delivery of services in South Dublin by Partnership companies. The proposed arrangements provided that South Dublin would in future be served by two partnership companies and that the coverage areas of both companies would be aligned with the county boundaries. This was reflected in the March Government Decision, details of which were conveyed to LEADER and Partnership Groups on 4th April last.

The new service delivery arrangements will facilitate the extension of the local development programme to all areas of South Dublin. The realignment of coverage areas along county boundary lines will mean certain parts of Walkinstown and Greenhills will be covered by a different Partnership company than heretofore. For this reason, my officials met with representatives of the Walkinstown & Greenhills network on the 26th November to hear their concerns about the new arrangements. Both Tallaght and KWCD Partnership which have proposed new names for their respective organisations to reflect their wider remit and areas of coverage also attended the meeting. I understand that the Partnerships concerned have been working closely with the Network in order to ensure that linkages between the network and the emerging Partnerships are strengthened and that services for local communities are maintained and enhanced in the new arrangements.