SIM Notes June 2010.pdf - South Tipperary County Development ...

Attendance:
Meeting Notes of South Tipperary Social Inclusion Measures Group
held on 30 th June 2010
in the Fire Station Building, Heywood Road, Clonmel.
Jarlath Fallon, Chair
Sinead Carr
Gerry Hickey
Donal O’Halloran
Carmel McKenna
Fionuala McGeever
Patricia Wall
Kathleen Prendergast
Mark Ryan
(Dept of Education & Skills)
(South Tipperary Co Co)
(South Tipp County Childcare Cttee)
(South Tipperary Disability Group Forum)
(CDP/FRC Network)
(South Tipperary VEC)
(South Tipperary Community & Voluntary Forum)
(RAPID / Community & Enterprise STCC)
(RAPID/ Community & Enterprise STCC)
Apologies:
Cllr Denis Landy
Supt John Courtney
Clare Curley
Clare Cashman
Lisa Kavanagh
Phil Shanahan
(South Tipperary Co Co)
(An Garda Siochana)
(South Tipperary Co Co)
(CDP/FRC Network)
(South Tipperary VEC)
(South Tipperary Development Company)
1. Introductions & Notes of Last Meeting
The Chair, Jarlath Fallon, opened the meeting and the notes of the last Meeting (April
19 th 2010) were adopted.
2. Withdrawal of Dept of Education & Skills Rep from SIM
Jarlath Fallon informed the Meeting that the Dept of Education & Skills were
currently re-organising and restructuring regional offices and services. To this end,
the Dept would no longer be represented on local boards and committees, including
the County Development Boards and the SIM Groups. Jarlath told the Meeting that
this would be his final SIM Group Meeting and thanked SIM for all its support and
co-operation over the past number of years. As he was stepping down from the SIM
Group a replacement Chairperson would now need to be agreed for future meetings.
Mark Ryan will liaise with existing members who wish to Chair SIM, possibly on a
rotation-basis to ensure a spread of the work and effort required.
3. Input by Kathleen Finn, SIDO, Tipperary Sports Partnership
Kathleen Finn was introduced to the SIM Group as the recently appointed Sports
Inclusion Disability Officer for the County (North & South) on a joint-funding basis
by both North Tipperary and South Tipperary Sports Partnerships. Kathleen
proceeded to explain the remit of the Sports Inclusion Disability Officer as the

promotion of Sports among people with a disability across the County. Her role is to
ensure greater participation of people with disabilities in Sports and Recreation
activities and Kathleen gave examples of how Clubs and Recreation Centres can
incorporate people with disabilities among various age-groups and within different
areas of activity.
Donal O’Halloran welcomed the appointment as a fantastic opportunity to develop
linkages with people with a disability and all existing Disability Providers including
Special Needs Schools, Youth Clubs and Disability Support Groups in the County.
Fionuala McGeever welcomed the initiative as a valuable support to further develop
Sports among the Sector and gave examples of local Clubs who were already proactive
in providing Sports for People with a Disability, such as Moyle Rovers and the
Crusaders Club.
Sinead Carr told the Meeting that an additional opportunity would be to liaise with
the South Tipperary Tourism Company to promote the County as a centre for hosting
activities and recreation pursuits to People with a Disability. Sinead was particularly
pleased that both North Tipperary and South Tipperary could negotiate a jointfunding
arrangement on the appointment of the Sports Inclusion Disability Officer.
Kathleen Finn can be contacted through South Tipperary Sports Partnership, based in
Cashel Civic Offices, on 062 64783
4. Disconnected Youth
Fionuala McGeever told the Meeting that the Disconnected Youth Sub-Group of SIM
were currently finalising their Position Paper on Early School Leaving and should be
available after the Summer. Fionuala told the Meeting that the group were also
taking account of the recent ESRI and Oireachtas Committee findings on the topic
and these would inform the South Tipperary Position Paper.
5. Safety & Security Sun-Group and County Joint Policing Committee
Mark Ryan provided an update on the Safety & Security Sub-Group of SIM and the
County Joint Policing Committee. He told the Meeting that the Sub-Group had been
successfully operating as a forum for local stakeholders to identify models of practise
on Community Safety issues for a number of years at local level and would now
become a recognised consultative body to the newly inaugurated Joint Policing
Committee that was rolled out under the 2005 Act.
The South Tipperary Joint Policing Committee (JPC) was formally established in
January and has representatives from An Garda Siochana (led by the Chief Supt),
local Oireachtas Members, County Council Members, Council Officials and
Community Representatives nominated by the South Tipperary Community &
Voluntary Forum.

The JPC hosted a Public Workshop in April which was well-attended by various
stakeholders in the County. The Workshop proposals will now form the basis of an
agreed County Community Safety Strategy for implementation by the JPC under the
following headings:
- Family & Children Supports
- Policing & Enforcement
- Situational Crime Prevention
- Social Planning & Crime Prevention.
Mark Ryan outlined that one of the issues prioritised by the Safety & Security Sub-
Group was to seek to designate specific Gardai in each area as a nominated “Drugs
Liaison Garda” to link with the Family Support Network of Community-Based Drugs
Workers to respond to the issue of Families Intimated by Drug Debt. This issue is on
the rise and refers to situations where families of Drug Users are being directly
targeted to repay drug debts. The Safety & Security Sub-Group highlights that the
associated intimidation warrants specialist skills of a designated Garda member in
such incidences as there are wider sensitivities at play.
The SIM Meeting discussed the proposal. Carmel McKenna agreed that in such
situations it is vital that members of the public have a personal point of contact and
an assured confidence in that individual. Jarlath Fallon and Sinead Carr felt that it
would be a more productive use of resources if all Garda members were trained-up to
respond to this issue, as dependence on a “specialist” designated Liaison Garda may
be less effective as the Garda appointed may not be available at any given time to
intervene on individual situations.
Fionuala McGeever also proposed greater involvement with the Regional Drugs Task
Force & the Local Drugs Task Force and there was a discussion on the issue of the
proportion of Funding into South Tipperary as a percentage of the South East Region
spend. Mark Ryan also noted that the Safety & Security Sub-Group had also asked
that the Local Drugs Task Force revisit its membership to ensure effective Garda
Representation on the LDTF group.
The SIM Group agreed to request a Presentation from the Regional Drugs Task Force
and to seek an update on its current programme of work.
6. Elderly Services Review Group
Kathleen Prendergast provided an update on the Elderly Services Review Group
outlining the four key areas of work of the Group at this point in time as:
The development of Cashel as a Positive Ageing Town and the
development of a programme of activities for Positive Ageing Week, Sept
24 th - Oct 2 nd .
The development of a booklet outlining the current services available for
Older People which will be launched during that week.

The promotion of community supports for Older people where ‘gaps’ exist
in the county.
To examine how to increase access to library services for rural Older People
and people who are housebound.
It was also noted that South Tipperary will seek to develop a County Elderly Strategy
in association with the National Ageing-Well Network. This Network is currently
progressing a Strategy in Co Kilkenny and South Tipperary will be well placed to
take up this opportunity when it arises.
7. Traveller Education Pilot Proposal
Kathleen Prendergast gave an update on the specifics of the Traveller Family
Learning Project, on behalf of Tipperary Rural Travellers Project, which aims to:
Build a core team of Traveller Family Learning Workers who will work
alongside parents as positive role models in their children’s education;
Deliver a local community based education initiative that will build
confidence and self-esteem within the Traveller community to engage more
positively with the education system, in particular Early Childcare and
Education;
Increase expectations within the Traveller community of the importance of
Early Childcare and Education;
Enable Traveller children to engage more positively with their Education as
a result of increased access to Early Childcare and Education;
Support parents as educators thus ensuring increased awareness of the
importance of play school, pre-school and after-school education;
Support parents role as homework support for their children’s education.
This proposal to the Dept of Education and Skills will seek to incorporate FETAC
Accreditation and the key partners locally will include the County Childcare
Committee, Existing Early Childcare providers, South Tipperary VEC and Family
Resource Centres.
The SIM Group supported the Aims of the Proposal, however Jarlath Fallon
cautioned that the Proposal needed to be reviewed in light of the uncertainty of
current Dept of Education Funding Lines. However, he felt that a strong argument
could be made for the Proposal given that South Tipperary has obvious gaps in
coverage under the current Traveller Visiting Teacher Programme.
Fionuala McGeever also expressed concerns about the potential for funding at a time
when existing Traveller Education Centres were currently being scaled back or shutdown
by the Social Inclusion Unit of the Dept of Education and Skills. Specific
cases of the closure of Traveller Education Centres and Traveller Childcare Centres
were highlighted in other parts of the Country.

Gerry Hickey welcomed the Aims of the Proposal and explained that from a
Childcare perspective Play-School, Pre-School and Primary Education was seen to be
a seamless support and would be a favourable support service to the Traveller
community.
Sinead Carr recommended that the proposal be re-written to take a more
“mainstreaming” approach as it was highly unlikely that such a targeted pilot
initiative would be successful in securing funding at this point in time.
8. EU Social Inclusion Week 2010
Mark Ryan provided an update on the EU Social Inclusion Week, October 17 th -22 nd .
A proposal for a County initiative had been drafted involving Ruairi O’Caisleain of
the HSE, Hilary Dilworth of South Tipp Development Company and had been
referred to Sinead Carr for her consideration. The Proposal involves promoting and
highlighting Social Inclusion activities in five local centres of the County during the
week, culminating in a Family Supports Services conference on the final day.
Mark Ryan will form a County Co-Ordinating group, including Donal O’Halloran
and Cllr Denis Landy as SIM representatives to progress the initiative. It was also
pointed out that the Social Inclusion Week will also incorporate Active Citizenship as
a key theme.
Donal O’Halloran suggested that the local Social Inclusion Week would be an
opportunity to revisit the National Social Inclusion Strategy and identify how that
report can be linked back to local developments at this time. Reference was also
made to the County Audit conducted as part of the recent Cohesion process as a large
body of work existed, that could be used as reference during that week.
Jarlath Fallon requested that South Tipperary Development Company be given a clear
mandate to drive the process that week and Mark Ryan told the meeting that South
Tipperary Co Co, HSE and STDC were the leading joint-partners, under the SIM
process.
The Meeting also recommended that the County Co-Ordinating group ensure an
agreed definition of “Social Inclusion Week” in South Tipperary.
9. Data Unit
Sinead Carr told the Meeting that the Data Unit initiative was progressing
satisfactorily and that a Demonstration Project would be available for presentation in
October. Sinead expressed her thanks and gratitude to all those Agencies who were
co-operating in the Data Unit process in relation to the Demonstration project and the
early previews were very impressive.

10. Youth Cafe Grant Scheme
Fionuala McGeever gave the Meeting an account of the POBAL-administered Grant
Scheme. A County working-group led by South Tipperary VEC and involving
TRYS, WRYS, Foroige and South Tipperary Co Co had processed potential
applications under the scheme, on behalf of the County Development Board.
The Projects that were endorsed and forwarded by the Working-Group, under the
Youth Café Scheme, were:
- Scheme of Grants up to €100,000: “Place for You” facility in Clonmel
- Scheme of Grants up to €10,000: Killenaule Youth Facility and Foroige in
Carrick-on-Suir
In response to queries from the Meeting, Fionuala explained that the approved
nominations for funding were jointly agreed by all members on the Working-Group
and all parties were satisfied with the outcomes.
Sinead Carr added that Clonmel town centre was approved for the significant
funding-line as it was the sole remaining gap in the County, given the range of recent
developments through County Council and RAPID/Dormant Accounts Funding lines.
11. RAPID Update
Mark Ryan and Kathleen Prendergast gave an outline of recent developments of the
RAPID Programme at national level, following a two-day event with POBAL and the
newly installed Minister Pat Carey at the Dept of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht
Affairs.
Although no new monies were announced at this time, there is a very clear signal
from the Government that the RAPID Programme was seen as a vital process for
ensuring a more joined-up approach to local service delivery. It was also pointed out
that in times of shrinking budgets that local co-operation and collaboration were vital
to sustaining service delivery.
Mark Ryan and Kathleen Prendergast also highlighted that County Development
Boards, SIM Groups and Agency Managers and Directors were asked to be vigilant
to the status of RAPID Towns as it was pointed out that RAPID Towns suffer
disproportionately to other towns and areas in economic downturns and the
investment and capacity-building to date would be unravelled if the ring-fenced
disadvantaged status was diluted at local level.
12. AOB
Gerry Hickey enquired about any progress on the County Children’s Services
Committee as this process had to be actively driven by the County Council and HSE

in applicant Counties. Sinead Carr replied that she was actively pursuing this with
the County Manager and the Local Health Officer to drive the initiative as a SIM
priority.
Jarlath Fallon, thanked the SIM Members for their support and engagement during
his time with SIM and, more recently, as Chairperson of the Group. He told the
Meeting that Mark Ryan would now liaise with sitting members to identify a new
Chair for the next series of Meetings.
13. Date of Next Meeting
The next Meeting of the SIM Group will take place on September 20th