Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 320: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if a review of RAPID area boundaries has taken place; if any changes have resulted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10024/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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As I have previously outlined, a review of RAPID area boundaries has been undertaken with the intention of allowing adjustments necessary to ensure that areas are appropriately targeting the most disadvantaged communities.

A recognised expert in the field of mapping deprivation was contracted to analyse the Census 2006 data across a range of socio-economic and deprivation indicators and to make recommendations regarding the criteria for inclusion of areas in the RAPID Programme.

Following the review, the Government approved the inclusion of five new towns in the RAPID Programme in May 2009 - Ballina, Dungarvan, Enniscorthy, Mullingar and Rathkeale - and I have held information sessions in the five new towns over the last few months.

The review also proposed changes to the boundaries of some of the other 46 RAPID areas. In this regard, I held a meeting with all of the RAPID local Area Implementation Teams (AITs) in January last to brief them on this process. Each AIT has been requested to examine the proposals and to either confirm their agreement or to make suggestions for amendments, based on their local knowledge. This work is underway and a number of areas have requested amendments and these are currently being examined.

Overall, it should be noted that in implementing funding allocations based on RAPID boundaries, care has always been taken to ensure that key local facilities (sports clubs, health facilities, schools, etc) are offered RAPID status based on the population they serve - not just on their geographic inclusion within the area. Thus, for example, an AIT can accept the need to support an organisation which, while physically located outside a RAPID area, is actively serving RAPID residents.