Address by Mr Noel Treacy TD, Minister for Science Technology and Commerce at the Launch of the Ballymoe Area Development Plan On Monday 22nd October 2001 at 7.30pm

Thank you for inviting me here again this evening. While we should have had launched this plan earlier in the year, it had to be postponed due to the threat of spreading FMD. Thankfully that threat has now passed. Only a few short weeks ago I shared in your celebration on the occasion of the unveiling of the statue of Fr Flanagan. Those festivities were the result of a lot of hard work undertaken by a small group in our community.

Tonight however, marks the beginning of a period in which we all have to work very hard to achieve the ambitious objectives that we have set ourselves.

I believe we can build on the success of the recent achievements and celebrations to empower the community to achieve even more success over the next few years as we set about the implementation of this plan. I also believe, that one of the difficulties many community groups encounter, namely ‘apathy' will not be a factor for you. I sense a growing pride and enthusiasm within the village and surrounding area. It is therefore opportune that we are launching this plan this evening, as we capitalize on that self-belief.

Of course, you are not on your own. There are a number of state agencies in existence, which are there to help in the local development process. I am talking about the key role played by FAS, our National Employment & Training Agency, and the County Vocational Educational Committee.

My years as a TD and Minister, especially representing a rural community, have convinced me that putting power and responsibility into the hands of local men and women is the best way to achieve lasting results.

One of the offshoots of the tremendous economic development over the last decade is that we have less need for major national programmes and schemes - and more need to tackle the economic and social problems, which persist at local level.

I have been a staunch advocate of local development - in the hands of the local people - since becoming a Minister. This is all the more necessary and true in circumstances where our local authorities do not have as much power and resources as is the norm in other countries.

I have championed a number of initiatives, which give greater influence and power to local communities, notably the Area Partnerships and the City and County Enterprise Boards.

Everyone is aware that social partnership at national level is one of the principal reasons why our economy is so strong today. The Area Partnerships bring this sense of community to the local level and through the Partnership Companies and Community Groups there is a real sense of ownership and involvement in each locality.

I am particularly proud of our 35 City and County Enterprise Boards and their success in establishing small businesses and jobs at local level. In 2000 the Enterprise Boards supported over 500 projects in the BMW region and created almost 1800 jobs. The Boards aim to create 8000 jobs in the region up to 2006.

I recently obtained a special budget allocation for an initiative to promote enterprise education to be delivered on a regional basis to improve the ability to develop and sustain new enterprises in the local community.

A vital part of strengthening the economy in the regions and combating social problems is through education, training and skills leading to quality employment.

The VECs are a vital part of this tapestry.

Rosccommon VEC has a long history of supporting education and enterprise in association with FAS. With the help of these agencies, several community groups have been able to get small enterprises up and running such as Elphin Windmill project, Ballyleague Mushroom Village, Tulsk Action Group and Una Bhan Agri-Tourism Group.

These are classic examples of communities working for themselves and taking full advantage of State supports to do so.

The VEC also supports community development through a range of adult community and education classes made available to local communities in an ‘outreach' manner.

FAS has been one of the key players in local development through programmes such as Community Youth Training, Community Employment and Community Response supporting all types of commercial, community-based, historical and cultural projects.

These programmes have also provided many essential services to communities who would never have been able to obtain access to such services such as the elderly, disabled and isolated communities.

Anyone who watched the recent Nationwide T.V. Programme on the FAS Community Initiative Awards in Ennis, will know that literally thousands of Irish Communities, both urban and rural, have benefited from these programmes and have utterly transformed the environment and well-being of these communities.

A further evolution of all this work, which has come on stream in the year 2001, is the Social Economy Programme, which helps community enterprises to deliver social services into disadvantaged areas. In turn it creates meaningful jobs for long term unemployed people. In the year since it was launched the Programme has supported 100 projects and created over 500 jobs.

A lot of the excellent community education, training and enterprise work will be hindered unless the Western Region gets its fair share of the infrastructure investment as intended under the National Development Plan.

My Government colleague, Éamon Uas. Ó Cuív TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, has recently announced a new programme for Revitalising Rural Areas, (Clár: Ceantair Laga Ard-Riachtanais). Areas such as Ballymoe will be eligible for priority expenditure, as they have suffered from depopulation. The Clár programme will fast-track National Development Plan spending. An extra, dedicated budget of £20 million has been allocated to ensure the success of the programme. Communities such as ours will have a significant role to play in deciding on how this money should be spent, and I look forward to working with you in this area.

In the modern technological era, any business or service can be established in the remotest of areas, if the proper communications - roads, transport and telecoms are available. I am pleased that the Government has confirmed its intention to push ahead with infrastructural investment despite the uncertain economic and budgetary situation.

Against that background you can have confidence that the Ballymoe Development Plan will achieve what it has set out to do and improve the quality of life for everyone in the locality whether socially, economically and environmentally. It is at this level and through this kind of planning approach that communities can extract the full benefits of Government programmes and State Agency resources to meet their needs. My congratulations to all those involved in the production of the plan and my best wishes to the people of Roscommon and East Galway who can realistically hope to benefit from it.

Thank you for inviting me here again this evening. While we should have had launched this plan earlier in the year, it had to be postponed due to the threat of spreading FMD. Thankfully that threat has now passed. Only a few short weeks ago I shared in your celebration on the occasion of the unveiling of the statue of Fr Flanagan. Those festivities were the result of a lot of hard work undertaken by a small group in our community.

Tonight however, marks the beginning of a period in which we all have to work very hard to achieve the ambitious objectives that we have set ourselves.

I believe we can build on the success of the recent achievements and celebrations to empower the community to achieve even more success over the next few years as we set about the implementation of this plan. I also believe, that one of the difficulties many community groups encounter, namely ‘apathy' will not be a factor for you. I sense a growing pride and enthusiasm within the village and surrounding area. It is therefore opportune that we are launching this plan this evening, as we capitalize on that self-belief.

Of course, you are not on your own. There are a number of state agencies in existence, which are there to help in the local development process. I am talking about the key role played by FAS, our National Employment & Training Agency, and the County Vocational Educational Committee.

My years as a TD and Minister, especially representing a rural community, have convinced me that putting power and responsibility into the hands of local men and women is the best way to achieve lasting results.

One of the offshoots of the tremendous economic development over the last decade is that we have less need for major national programmes and schemes - and more need to tackle the economic and social problems, which persist at local level.

I have been a staunch advocate of local development - in the hands of the local people - since becoming a Minister. This is all the more necessary and true in circumstances where our local authorities do not have as much power and resources as is the norm in other countries.

I have championed a number of initiatives, which give greater influence and power to local communities, notably the Area Partnerships and the City and County Enterprise Boards.

Everyone is aware that social partnership at national level is one of the principal reasons why our economy is so strong today. The Area Partnerships bring this sense of community to the local level and through the Partnership Companies and Community Groups there is a real sense of ownership and involvement in each locality.

I am particularly proud of our 35 City and County Enterprise Boards and their success in establishing small businesses and jobs at local level. In 2000 the Enterprise Boards supported over 500 projects in the BMW region and created almost 1800 jobs. The Boards aim to create 8000 jobs in the region up to 2006.

I recently obtained a special budget allocation for an initiative to promote enterprise education to be delivered on a regional basis to improve the ability to develop and sustain new enterprises in the local community.

A vital part of strengthening the economy in the regions and combating social problems is through education, training and skills leading to quality employment.

The VECs are a vital part of this tapestry.

Rosccommon VEC has a long history of supporting education and enterprise in association with FAS. With the help of these agencies, several community groups have been able to get small enterprises up and running such as Elphin Windmill project, Ballyleague Mushroom Village, Tulsk Action Group and Una Bhan Agri-Tourism Group.

These are classic examples of communities working for themselves and taking full advantage of State supports to do so.

The VEC also supports community development through a range of adult community and education classes made available to local communities in an ‘outreach' manner.

FAS has been one of the key players in local development through programmes such as Community Youth Training, Community Employment and Community Response supporting all types of commercial, community-based, historical and cultural projects.

These programmes have also provided many essential services to communities who would never have been able to obtain access to such services such as the elderly, disabled and isolated communities.

Anyone who watched the recent Nationwide T.V. Programme on the FAS Community Initiative Awards in Ennis, will know that literally thousands of Irish Communities, both urban and rural, have benefited from these programmes and have utterly transformed the environment and well-being of these communities.

A further evolution of all this work, which has come on stream in the year 2001, is the Social Economy Programme, which helps community enterprises to deliver social services into disadvantaged areas. In turn it creates meaningful jobs for long term unemployed people. In the year since it was launched the Programme has supported 100 projects and created over 500 jobs.

A lot of the excellent community education, training and enterprise work will be hindered unless the Western Region gets its fair share of the infrastructure investment as intended under the National Development Plan.

My Government colleague, Éamon Uas. Ó Cuív TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, has recently announced a new programme for Revitalising Rural Areas, (Clár: Ceantair Laga Ard-Riachtanais). Areas such as Ballymoe will be eligible for priority expenditure, as they have suffered from depopulation. The Clár programme will fast-track National Development Plan spending. An extra, dedicated budget of £20 million has been allocated to ensure the success of the programme. Communities such as ours will have a significant role to play in deciding on how this money should be spent, and I look forward to working with you in this area.

In the modern technological era, any business or service can be established in the remotest of areas, if the proper communications - roads, transport and telecoms are available. I am pleased that the Government has confirmed its intention to push ahead with infrastructural investment despite the uncertain economic and budgetary situation.

Against that background you can have confidence that the Ballymoe Development Plan will achieve what it has set out to do and improve the quality of life for everyone in the locality whether socially, economically and environmentally. It is at this level and through this kind of planning approach that communities can extract the full benefits of Government programmes and State Agency resources to meet their needs. My congratulations to all those involved in the production of the plan and my best wishes to the people of Roscommon and East Galway who can realistically hope to benefit from it.