The following quotes are taken from the Reports of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes, Volume I and Volume II.

Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes, Volume I

Some of these structural recommendations are developed elsewhere in this Report, including in
Volume II, but the principal elements of the Group’s proposals are as follows:

• The Department of Community, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs should be closed down and its functions redistributed across various Departments

Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes Volume II: Detailed Papers

Detailed Paper No. 4 – Community, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs

a Revised Estimates Volume 2009
b The Departmental staff and their estimated pay are divided across the various programme areas
c Includes Departmental and Office Civil Servants and Agency Public Servants – end Dec08
d Refers to corporate services staff only

Programme B – Community                                  

B.4 Reduction in allocation for Community Services Programme

The Community Services Programme aims to support local community activity which addresses disadvantage, while at the same time providing employment opportunities for people from the following target groups: people with disabilities, the long-term unemployed, travellers, stabilised and recovering drug misusers and ex-prisoners. There is little information available on the outcomes achieved through the scheme. The scheme also has similarities with the community
employment schemes administered by FÁS. For these reasons, the Group recommends that the allocation for this Programme be reduced by €10m.

Programme C – Drugs
This Programme has a 2009 allocation of €40.6m and employs 23 staff.

C.1 Better targeting of funds to drugs task forces projects

There are currently 14 local drug task forces and 10 regional drugs task forces in the country.
These partnerships between statutory, voluntary and community organisations are responsible for
the design and delivery of community-based initiatives or projects to address drugs-related issues in
areas experiencing severe drugs misuse. The Group considers that funding should be allocated in a
more targeted manner to those projects with an evidence-based track record of delivery. This
should lead to discontinuation of certain projects. Overall, the Group targets €2m savings for this
area. Further, there should be scope to deliver community-based initiatives more efficiently given
the pay correction currently taking place in the wider economy.

C.2 Provision of shared services by local county structures
The shared services for the drugs task forces should be provided by Local Authorities which would
also support the Partnerships structures, the County Childcare Committees and the Volunteer
Centres. This should yield a reduction in secretarial and co-ordination staff of around 12 positions
and an overall annual saving of €0.6m

Programme C - Associated Staffing reductions
The Group estimates that overall staff numbers associated with this Programme could be reduced by
12 posts.

Programme E – Other services
This Programme has a 2009 allocation of €536.5m and there are 315 staff involved in implementing
the Programme.

E.5 Reduce allocation to certain Local Drugs Task Force (LDTF) Projects

D/E&S retains responsibility for funding education projects delivered through LDTF’s. The Group concludes that the allocation for these projects should be curtailed in line with the likely reduction in the overall number of LDTF projects funded by the Department of Community, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs. 

The Group also notes that there is a general lack of evidence regarding the effectiveness of projects funded through local delivery mechanisms such as the LDTF’s. A reduction of at least €1m is recommended for this Programme.