A major review of the Western Development Commission was announced yesterday by the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Mr Ó Cuív.
"The purpose of the review is to identify and eliminate any unnecessary duplication between State agencies operating in the western region," Mr Ó Cuív said. He was addressing a meeting of the commission in Sligo.
The commission was established as a statutory agency in February 1999 to halt the increasing economic gap between east and west. It clashed with the Government earlier this year when the Taoiseach turned down a commission request for infrastructural development.
Although the commission said it was "very disappointed", Mr Ahern said at the time that the Government was committed to better regional balance and commitments made under the National Development Plan were 70 per cent higher than asked for by the WDC.
Mr Ó Cuív told the commission yesterday that he had learned as a community development worker and co-op manager over the years that the more complicated and the greater the duplication of services and agencies, the more chaotic it was for those people carrying out development on the ground.
"I have an obligation to look at all the expenditure of my Department to ensure that public resources are spent in the best possible way and that the responsibilities which have been assigned to me are carried out in the most efficient and productive way, to ensure the equitable development of rural communities," he added.
