The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan TD, has announced the allocation for the Local and Community Development Programme (LCDP) in 2014 of €47.7m.

Making the announcement Minister Hogan said: "This will enable 44,000 people to engage through one-to-one interventions in 2014 to assist them in returning to employment, it will also sustain 650 jobs in Local Development Companies, providing services to communities."

The LCDP tackles poverty and social exclusion in disadvantaged communities and is a key tool of Government in providing supports for the 'harder to reach' in the most disadvantaged areas in society. The scheme assists people in training and re-skilling in order to re-enter the workforce. It is a locally accessible, frontline intervention, supporting disadvantaged communities.

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"We operate in an environment of shrinking resources; nevertheless we must continue to do more with less. I want to see Local Development Company's maintain key services and supports through prioritising resources at the front-line. There is an onus on all groups to strive to improve service delivery and to do so at a significantly reduced cost to the public purse," said the minister.

The current LCDP comes to an end at the end of 2013. A successor programme to the LCDP is currently being designed based on; inter alia, the main findings of the Mid-Term Review of the Programme.

(CD/JP)