Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 269: To ask the Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs the reason an area (details supplied) has been removed form the RAPID area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38059/10]

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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In seeking to ensure the continued relevance of the RAPID Programme, my Department commissioned a review in 2008 of RAPID area boundaries, including an analysis of data from Census 2006 across a range of socio-economic and deprivation indicators. A key objective of the review was to ensure that the effectiveness of the RAPID Programme would not be diluted and that Government action continues to prioritise and target communities with the greatest needs.

The study involved the examination of both the RAPID areas and adjacent areas, using specific criteria which identified any additional such adjacent areas that fell below pre-defined thresholds of disadvantage. The conclusions of this report were presented to RAPID Area Implementation Teams (AITs), along with an invitation for local areas to review the conclusions and present for consideration any queries they had in relation to the boundaries.

It should be noted that no areas were removed from RAPID without the agreement of the local AITs. In a number of instances, AITs requested that additional areas (that had not been identified as falling below the pre-set threshold) be added to the programme. This approach was taken in recognition of the fact that some very small, or very newly developed areas, might have escaped identification in the national process, due to the parameters of the CSO data.

On examination, the evidence presented for the area referred to by the Deputy did not fulfil these criteria and, accordingly, could not be included in a RAPID extension.