Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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521. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the arrangements being put in place to deliver the Leader and social inclusion programmes of his Department on the offshore islands; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31543/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The proposals outlined in Putting People First - Action Programme for Effective Local Governmentseek to position local government “as the primary vehicle of governance and public service at local level – leading economic, social and community development, delivering efficient and good value services, and representing citizens and local communities effectively and accountably”.

As part of the programme of reform of local government, Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) are being established in all local authority areas. These Committees, comprising public-private socio-economic interests, will have responsibility for local and community development programmes on an area basis including the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP). They will develop, co-ordinate and implement a more coherent and integrated approach to local and community development than heretofore, with the aim of reducing duplication and overlap and optimising the use of available resources for the benefit of citizens and communities.

SICAP is one of my key priorities and its budget for next year will be decided in the 2015 Estimates process. In accordance with the Public Spending Code, best practice internationally, legal advice and in order to ensure the optimum delivery of services to clients, the Programme will be subject to a public procurement process, which is currently underway. The closing date for receipts of expressions of interest under Stage 1 of the process was noon on 11July 2014.

The public procurement process is a competitive process that is open to Local Development Companies, other not-for-profit community groups, commercial firms and national organisations that can provide the services to be tendered for to deliver the new Programme. Joint applications are encouraged and organisations of varying sizes (for example smaller organisations working in consortia with larger organisations) are invited to submit joint applications. Applicants at stage one of the tendering process must demonstrate that they meet the criteria for the delivery of services in the Lot(s) applied for. 31 “Lots” are being offered for tender, based on Local Authority areas – in some cases these may be divided into smaller units at Stage two. Gaeltacht areas and the Islands have been included in the Lots for the respective local authorities. Partner Candidates have a role in the delivery and implementation of the programme. All such Partner Candidates must be identified in the Qualification Questionnaireand a contracting arrangement may be required between the Lead Candidate and any Partner Candidates. Candidates may rely on the resources of other entities in order to satisfy the suitability requirements on condition that they can prove to the satisfaction of Pobal that they will have these resources at their disposal when necessary.

I am satisfied that the procurement process underway is in line with best practice and that the procurement documentation on e-Tenders contains all the relevant information on the process. I look forward to the outcome of the procurement process and the roll out of SICAP in January 2015.

The draft Rural Development Programme 2014-2020was submitted to the European Commission and can be found on my Departments website at the following weblink:

The document outlines the arrangements for the delivery of the LEADER elements of the RDP in rural areas and details the 28 sub-regional areas for which LEADER Local Development Strategies (LDS) will be developed. In this context and as part of the LDS selection process my Department will request one LDS and one Local Action Group to cover each county outside of the county of Cork where 3 Local Action Groups will be required. In the context of offshore islands the criteria for the selection of the Local Development Strategies will be developed to ensure that any county that has an offshore island will be required to specifically address the needs of the island communities and ring fence a specific proportion of their LEADER financial allocation as part of the LDS development process.