Assembly members have questioned the effectiveness of current community relations policies in the North in the face of recent inter-communal tensions in north Belfast.
At a meeting of the Assembly's Committee of the Centre, the committee's chairman, Mr Edwin Poots (DUP), said there was an urgent need for reform of existing policies which often appeared to heighten rather than tackle the problem.
He also questioned whether the community relations budget of £9 million sterling was being wisely spent.
"The benefit derived from the current community relations policies must be questioned, especially as £9 million of public money is being poured into its programmes every year. Clearly, the current community relations policy has failed to improve community relations where it matters, and root and branch reform is vital," he added.
Committee members were questioning a team of officials led by the director of the Community Relations Policy Team, Dr Jeremy Harbison, on existing cross-community programmes. Ms Patricia Lewsley (SDLP) said she had been horrified to learn that children sent away on cross-community holidays with youngsters from the other side often regarded them as an opportunity to identify "targets" for when they returned.
"Rather than make friends with the children from the other side, they are much better able to identify and single them out for attack when they get back. One really has to ask what is achieved by such schemes," she added. Ms Lewsley also pointed out the necessity of introducing citizenship classes for both children and adults aimed at increasing their respect for diversity and other cultural traditions.
Committee members were told that research was currently underway into why and to what extent nationalists were far more confident about applying for community schemes than unionists. Mr Jim Shannon (DUP) said since the first IRA ceasefire in 1994, Protestants had increasingly been feeling distrustful and dismissive of any official schemes.