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343 Questions— 22 February 2005. Written Answers 344[Éamon Ó Cuív.]a wish to transfer to other decentralised locations.The most recent updated information wasreceived on 15 February 2005, which included thenames and other details of those who haveexpressed an interest in decentralising with myDepartment. This information indicates that thenumber of applicants from general Civil Servicegrades now stands at 157 with, in addition, nineapplications from other Civil Service grades andten from other public servants.The grade breakdown for general civil servantsis as follows:GradePrincipal Officer 2Assistant Principal 10Higher Executive Officer 28Administrative Officer 1Executive Officer 45Staff Officer 12Clerical Officer 57Services Officer 2Total 157Income Support Scheme.34. Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Community,Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if he willreport on the success or otherwise of the ruralsocial scheme to date; the number of participantson the scheme at present; if he has satisfied himselfwith the level of awareness of the scheme;and if he will make a statement on the matter.[1924/05]Minister for Community, Rural and GaeltachtAffairs (Éamon Ó Cuív): The rural social scheme,the details of which were announced in May 2004,accepted its first participants in July 2004 and thenumbers have been increasing steadily since then.There are 1,114 participants on the scheme atpresent. There are 36 implementing bodiesthroughout the country and of those 27 have commencedprojects under the scheme to date.In addition, all 36 implementing bodies areworking to ensure that there is a high level ofawareness of the scheme in their respective communities.This is being achieved with the co-operationof the local social welfare offices which havesent information regarding the scheme to allrecipients of farm assist. Advertisements haveappeared in local newspapers and communitypublications and a number of the implementingbodies have held public information awarenessmeetings. I also avail of opportunities regularlyto raise awareness about the scheme in relevantpublic fora.I consider that substantial progress has beenmade in this period of time. I expect the participantnumbers will continue to increase and thatall 2,500 places will be availed of in the nearfuture.Question No. 35 answered with QuestionNo. 10.Question No. 36 answered with QuestionNo. 7.Question No. 37 answered with QuestionNo. 10.Question No. 38 answered with QuestionNo. 18.Area Development Management.39. Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Community,Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if any newproposals have been brought to Government withregard to the restructuring of ADM; and if he willmake a statement on the matter. [5800/05]Minister for Community, Rural and GaeltachtAffairs (Éamon Ó Cuív): I refer the Deputy tomy replies to Question No. 75 on 9 November2004 and Question No. 60 on 14 December 2004.Progress is being made in the restructuring ofADM. Proposals have yet to be brought toGovernment to give effect to these changes.Departmental Programmes.40. Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Community,Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the nature ofthe works which his Department has financiallysupported in the past 12 months, with particularreference to urban and rural community groupsand those involved in combating drugs or otherwise;and if he will make a statement on thematter. [5973/05]Minister for Community, Rural and GaeltachtAffairs (Éamon Ó Cuív): My Department fundsa variety of measures to assist both urban andrural community groups, as well as measures tocombat drugs misuse.In 2004, an amount of \20.6 million was providedin my Department’s Vote for the communitydevelopment programme. Expenditure onthat programme in the period February 2004 toend January 2005 was \21.677 million. This fundingsupports 185 community development projects,CDPs, in communities experiencing socialand economic disadvantage. These projects providefacilities such as meeting rooms, crèches,office facilities and training or education projectsto meet the needs of disadvantaged groups intheir communities. The programme also includesgroups that act as a resource for communitydevelopment work with particular interestgroups, for example, Travellers, lone parents,people with disabilities and ethnic or culturalminorities. The programme is designed to reducepoverty and social exclusion through targetingsupport at disadvantaged and socially excludedcommunities in order to improve their capacity tobenefit from economic and social development.Funding for the community development prog-
345 Questions— 22 February 2005. Written Answers 346ramme has been increased to \22.4 million for the2005 year.My Department provides a range of once-offgrants to a wide variety of locally-based communityand voluntary groups. Funding ofapproximately \3.3 million was provided in thepast 12 months for grants in the following categories:equipment and refurbishment grants — targetedat voluntary and community organisationsin disadvantaged areas; and education, trainingand research grants — providing once-off paymentsto fund training, education or researchinitiatives aimed at supporting and enhancing theeffectiveness of local community and voluntarygroups in disadvantaged areas.The scheme of community support for olderpeople encourages and assists local support forolder people by means of a community basedgrant scheme to improve the security of its oldermembers. Funding is provided by way of grantaid to voluntary groups and organisations, whichhave undertaken to identify those elderly peoplein need of assistance under the scheme. MyDepartment provided funding of approximately\2.5 million in the past 12 months under thescheme.In 2004, \3.2 million was paid in grants tocounty-city development boards to fund cohesionand better delivery service projects which havebeen proposed by various agencies under theimproved co-ordination of local and communitydevelopment schemes.In 2004, there was a provision of \42.144 millionin my Department’s Vote for the localdevelopment social inclusion programme, LDSIP.Funding was allocated to partnerships and communitypartnerships and territorial employmentpacts to deliver the programme under threemeasures — services for the unemployed, communitybased youth initiatives and communitydevelopment.Capital funding of \4.5 million was available in2004 to support small scale localised actions inRAPID areas, through co-funding with the relevantDepartment or agency. Funding of \1.3million was also available to support ADM andlocal areas in the implementation of the RAPIDprogramme.Details of the areas covered by LDSIP andRAPID are available on my Department’s website,www.pobail.ie.The Peace II programme is a distinctive EUStructural Funds programme aimed at reinforcingprogress towards a peaceful and stable societyand promoting reconciliation. My Department,through ADM-CPA, implements 12 measures ofthis programme that range from developing communityinfrastructure to new skills and newopportunities. Funding of \10.615 million wasprovided in my Department’s Vote to meet commitmentsunder the programme in 2004.My Department has overall responsibility forco-ordinating the implementation of the NationalDrugs Strategy 2001-2008.In this context, my Department has responsibilityfor the work of the 14 local drugs taskforces in Dublin, Cork and Bray and the tenregional drugs task forces located in all areas ofthe country. The Department also funds thepremises initiative which is designed to meet theaccommodation needs of community based drugsprojects and the young peoples facilities and servicesfund development groups which are basedin the 14 local drugs task forces areas, as well asCarlow, Waterford, Limerick and Galway.In 2004, my Department spent over \27 millionon the above areas. In addition, an amount ofover \6.5 million was transferred from the Voteof my Department to the Vote of the Departmentof Education and Science in early 2004 for mainstreamedyoung people’s facilities and servicesfund projects.An amount of \21.98 million was provided in2004 for schemes to benefit communities in Gaeltachtareas, including road improvement, marineworks, group water schemes, leisure facilities andcultural initiatives. In 2004, a capital allocation of\10.35 million was available for island developmentpurposes. While the greater part of thisfunding was spent on essential public infrastructureon the islands, a proportion was also allocatedtowards community led projects such asrecreational facilities and community centres.My Department also provided funding of\33.183 million in 2004 to Údarás na Gaeltachtato assist in developing industries, services andemployment opportunities, in addition to fosteringand strengthening the Irish language, inGaeltacht areas.In the past 12 months, CLÁR funds of \10.9million were spent on the various measures underthe programme. This expenditure supported theprovision and improvement of facilities rangingfrom roads, water and sewerage, village, housingand schools enhancement, health, broadband,electricity conversions and sports and communityprojects.Under the programme, community groupsavailed of assistance under the measures detailedin the appendix set out below.The rural development fund, provided for inthe White Paper on rural development, wasestablished to support research, evaluations andpilot actions mainly in disadvantaged rural areas.In the period in question the fund supported anumber of initiatives including training in traditionalskills; employment of local developmentworkers; local tourism development projects; andthe employment of a co-ordinator to examinebarriers facing small food producers. A total of\582,634 has been spent on the rural developmentfund from February 2004 to end January2005.My Department provides support to rural communitiesunder the Leader+ initiative and thearea based rural development initiative and therural development initiatives of the cross-Borderprogrammes INTERREG IIIA and PEACE II.
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