IRELAND's success with local development is a "beacon" for Europe in tackling unemployment and social injustice, the Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, Mr Gay Mitchell, has said.
Such initiatives present an opportunity at a time when this State is in danger of creating a "two tier" society, the Minister said. Mr Mitchell, who holds responsibility for local development and European affairs, was responding to the findings of an independent report published yesterday.
The report on the impact of EU and Government backed local development programmes from 1992 to 1995 says they have "exceeded all expectations and targets". But it also warns against such schemes becoming "dumping grounds" for disadvantaged people who are categorised as "difficult to place".
About £104 million has been allocated for an extension of the initiative over the next four years, with an anticipated spin off of 8,000 jobs, the Minister said. About 1,800 enterprises have been helped through groups and partnerships to date, through expenditure of £16.5 million. Some £7.7 million came from the European Regional Development and Social funds, £5.1 million from the State and £3.7 million from private sources.
Known as the Global Grant Fund, the European money is administered through a limited company set up in 1992 to guarantee "political independence". Area Development Management acts as an intermediary between the EU and the Government.
It is monitored by a board of 15 directors drawn from the social partners, community organisations, area partnership companies, the county and city managers' association, the Taoiseach's Department, Dublin Business Innovation Centre and Enterprise Trust.
The study published yesterday by Kieran McKeown Ltd, social and economic research consultants, provides a "strong endorsement of the Global Grant strategy, the authors state. The funding is targeted at areas of exceptional disadvantage, such as parts of Dublin, Limerick, Cork, Waterford, and the towns of Drogheda, Dundalk, Sligo, Kilkenny and Wexford. Rural areas identified include the Border and western regions.
Almost 1,600 people received training or education in enterprise related skills, according to the study. Some 320 projects were assisted to improve local infrastructure and the environment and over 1,000 community activists took part in training. These results "surpassed the expected number of assisted people and enterprises, as projected in the agreement between ADM and the EU Commission many times", the report states.
The Global Grant had made a significant contribution to the development of local partnerships, and had allowed 12 PESP partnerships and 28 new groups move to a stage where strategies, programmes and projects were being developed, the study says. But it warns that "consistency and continuity" are crucial in the new model for planning and co ordinating local development.
