Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 73: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs his views on the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes report recommendation that community and voluntary groups should have core funding cut by €10 million in view of the fact that due to the economic downturn voluntary contributions and sponsorships have dropped; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41629/09]

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 75: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the main proposals he has made for savings in the submission made to the Special Group on Public Services Numbers and Expenditure Programmes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41647/09]

Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 86: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs his views on the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes report which determines that the dormant accounts funds should be returned to the Exchequer thus depriving communities of the value of such funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41627/09]

Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 89: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the concern among those working in local and community development programmes arising from the recommendation contained in the report of the Special Group on Public Services Numbers and Expenditure Programmes that the allocation for such programmes should be cut by €44 million; when a decision will be made on this matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41646/09]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 92: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the extent to which he has studied the recommendations of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes and its implications for his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41668/09]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 97: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs his views on the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes report recommendation that the RAPID programme should be discontinued and thus deprive 51 of the most disadvantaged areas of core funding to address problems within their communities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41628/09]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 105: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if he has assessed the funding needs of his Department for the budget 2010 submissions; if areas have been identified as not having completed their programmes or not using the total funding allocated under their financial headings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41616/09]

Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 106: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if he has concluded an overview on the recommendations made in the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes report; if so, the discussions that he has had as a consequence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41626/09]

Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 107: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs his views on the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes report recommendation that adult education courses, local enterprise initiatives and information provision for target groups should be merged with county child care committees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41630/09]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 73, 75, 86, 89, 92, 97, 105, 106 and 107 together.

As I stated in my reply to today's Priority Question No. 56, the recommendations in the Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes represent a set of options that are being considered by Government in the context of the 2010 Budget. It has been well flagged that we need to make serious inroads in the gap in the public finances between income and expenditure. The Report from the Special Group has provided a broad range of measures for consideration by Government in that regard. As the Deputies will be aware, it proposes a range of savings relating to various functions of my Department.Towards that end, it proposes that a number of schemes be abolished or reduced and it also makes specific recommendations regarding agencies under the aegis of my Department and, indeed, the Department itself.

However, I believe that it would not be appropriate for me to engage in a line by line discussion of the various recommendations of the Report from the Special Group, not least because of the work that is in train by Government to frame the Budget. It should be noted that certain areas referred to in the Deputies' Questions are the responsibility of other Ministers.