Former minister accuses Government of failing rural Ireland
The Minister for Community and Development has no interest in the most deprived areas of the country’s cities and towns, according to one local TD.
Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív (FF) has accused Minister Michael Ring (FG) of failing to have recognised the critical issues facing deprived areas across Galway City and County.
“It is very obvious that the Minister for Community and Development, Michael Ring, has no interest in the most deprived areas of our cities and towns.
“Under the Fianna Fáil led Government, a very strong RAPID Programme had been built up that involved people living in the most deprived communities in the development in their areas and gave them a considerable input into policy development – and a say in money expenditure in these areas,” said Deputy Ó Cuív.
The RAPID Programme, or Revitalising Areas by Planning, Investment and Development, made way for a coordinated tackling of disadvantage, according to Deputy Ó Cuív.
“There were two main strands to the RAPID Programme, one of which was the development of an area implementation team covering every RAPID area, which met regularly and consisted of representatives from the local communities, the local authority and all of the main agencies in the area, such as An Garda Síochána, the HSE, the ETB, etc." This is a preview only. To read the rest of this article, see this week's Galway City Tribune. Buy a digital edition of this week's paper here.