35 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation if he will give an update on the four pilot projects on social disadvantage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11757/99]

One of the Government's key priorities is to ensure a more focused and better co-ordinated response by the statutory authorities in addressing the needs of severely disadvantaged urban communities.

To that end, the Interdepartmental Committee on Local Development, which I chair, has been given a mandate to oversee the creation of an integrated services process which aims to produce a model of best practice that can be extended to other deprived urban areas.