Madam, – I wish to respond to Thomas Erbsloh’s letter (November 5th) regarding the Government’s two main social inclusion and community development programmes – the Local Development Social Inclusion Programme (LDSIP) and the Community Development Programme (CDP).
My view is that a focused programme with a single integrated delivery structure is needed in order to maximise the impact of the local development programme and the Community Development Programme, which serve disadvantaged communities.
My overall aim is to ensure that, from 2010, having regard to the budgetary position, disadvantaged communities will benefit from a more focused programme with clear objectives, simplified and streamlined delivery structures and better-integrated actions, leading to significant administrative savings.
The department is undertaking a review of the Community Development Programme and will shortly have a full report on the findings and recommendations arising from it. The statement made in the letter to The Irish Times claiming that the majority of CDPs will close as a result of the review process is completely inaccurate.
On the contrary, I would reasonably expect the majority of projects to be deemed viable and that they would move into the new integrated programme. However, some Community Development Programmes are not dependent solely on funding provided by the department and may decide to continue in separate existence, outside of the new integrated programme. The department cannot instruct these companies, or indeed any independent legal entity, to close.
The intention is to preserve elements of best practice from the existing CDP/LDSIP programmes in the redesigned model, to minimise structures and to enhance benefits for individuals and communities through significant administrative and overhead savings.
These developments are taking place at a time of extreme budgetary difficulties, the full extent of which will not be known until budget day. – Yours, etc,
JOHN CURRAN TD,
Minister of State,
Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs,
Mespil Road,
Dublin 4.