Community development agency
Flaherty asked whether the proposed agency would replace the combat poverty agency; the Taoiseach said the earlier decision was inoperative and the new agency would undertake that work.
I did not fully gather the text of the Taoiseach's very general and unspecific reply but I gathered it was that we would have to wait until the budgetary announcements to understand the answers to many of these questions. The question that I have asked will not be answered by budgetary statements. I want to know if the proposed National Community Development Council will replace or operate in parallel with the combat poverty agency whose establishment is already under way in the Department.
Comment on this
The position about the combat poverty agency as I understand it is that whereas a decision was taken to establish such a body there was considerable opposition within the Government to its actually coming into operation, and this included the Minister for Finance. As far as I am concerned that decision is inoperative. But for the benefit of the Deputy I would explain that the work in that area will be carried out by the National Community Development Agency.