Phil Hogan, T.D., Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government today (24 May, 2011) announced a total allocation of €440,000 in Dormant Accounts Funding for the five new RAPID Towns under the RAPID Addtionality Measure. These are: Ballina, Co. Mayo, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath and Rathkeale, Co. Limerick. The allocation amounts to €88,000 for each of the five towns.
The Dormant Accounts legislation targets three broad categories of persons for support from the Dormant Accounts Fund:
those affected by economic and social disadvantage;
those affected by educational disadvantage; and
persons with a disability
The €440,000 from Dormant Accounts will be allocated on programmes and projects across all three themes.
RAPID (Revitalising Areas by Planning Investment and Development) is a focused initiative designed to prioritise and target Government expenditure on the most concentrated centres of disadvantage in the country. The Programme aims to ensure that priority attention is given to tackling the spatial concentration of poverty and social exclusion within RAPID Areas, through targeting of State resources.
Pobal, who advertise, appraise and recommend beneficiaries under various Dormant Accounts Measures in consultation with the RAPID Area Implementation Teams (AIT’s), has submitted a listing of projects for allocation of funding under this measure. Pobal will now contact each RAPID AIT to allow them to use their local expertise to choose the most important and effective projects which can be delivered this year from the lists they have in place. A full list of all successful projects including amounts awarded will be published in due course and will be available by contacting the Press Office.
Announcing today’s allocation, Minister Hogan said, “I know that it has taken a long time to get to this day and I am thankful for the patience and forbearance shown by all the local players involved. I am delighted to announce this funding from dormant accounts to allow some small-scale, but nevertheless important, actions to be undertaken to improve the infrastructure of those communities most in need.”