£7m for deprived areas welcomed

Sinn Féin MLA Carál Ní Chuilín has welcomed news that £7m is to be spent in deprived areas over the next two years, ending months of speculation and uncertainty that key community posts were to be axed.
“I welcome the announcement by the Social Development minister that jobs in the Neighbourhood Renewal scheme are to be continued until 2011,” said Carál Ní Chuilín.
“This will mean an extra £7m for some of the most deprived communities in the North.
“Sinn Féin has been lobbying since August last year for an extension to the posts of people working in Neighbourhood Renewal as they have been providing vital services in areas which are suffering most from poverty, neglect, discrimination and social inequality.
“The announcement that these jobs will now be supported until 2011 will also bring to an end the uncertainty which has hung over the future of these posts and the services they deliver like a dark cloud.
“We hope that these workers can now get on with the task of ensuring that those most in need can continue to avail of their services.”
Carál Ní Chuilín also said that the two-year breathing space provided by the announcement now needed to be used well.
“The work carried out by people working to renew and rebuild deprived communities cuts across several government departments,” she said.
“Tackling poverty, neglect and deprivation is clearly an issue of social justice.
“All departments, which have a role in ending the inequalities which flow from these social evils, must use the next two years well to make the transition from Neighbourhood Renewal as seamless as possible.”