Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Question 349: To ask the Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs her views on correspondence sent by a group (details supplied) to her office on 29 March 2011; the action she will take to restore its departmental funding; and if she will meet the group as requested. [6750/11]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Each Local Drugs Task Force (LDTF) has an annual funding allocation from my Department for community-based drugs initiatives. From that allocation, each Task Force has the discretion to allocate funding to projects and initiatives based on the priorities it has identified for its respective area. Funding for these projects is channelled through a designated Department or State Agency.

I am advised that, in January 2001, following an evaluation of projects under Round 1 interim funding, project funding for three part-time community development worker posts in the communities referred to by the Deputy was mainstreamed to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, which was then responsible for the continued funding of this service. However, in April 2001, under Round 2, Phase 1, additional funding was approved to increase the level of service provided by these community development workers by the creation of full-time posts. The channel of funding for the project was Dublin City Council. However, in May 2005 the additional funding under Round 2 was discontinued by the former National Drugs Strategy Team (NDST), which managed the funding at that time, on the basis that the funding had not been drawn down. The Canal Communities LDTF then submitted proposals, which were accepted by the NDST, to re-allocate this funding to other measures. Dublin City Council continued to fund the full-time posts until December 2010. The Council has recently indicated that this practice will not continue in 2011.

Accordingly, it is a matter for the Task Force to consider, having regard to current priorities, whether to make provision for this project in the context of its 2011 allocation.