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Main Functions

County Development Board

Wexford County Development Board is one of 34 similar bodies that were established in cities and counties all over Ireland. The original decision to set up County Development Boards was born out of the Government's commitment to social inclusion and, in particular, to co-ordinate the activities of all public agencies working to combat poverty.

The Boards primary task was to prepare a strategy for the Economic, Social and Cultural Development of Co. Wexford 2002-2012. Titled "Remodelling the Model County" The work of the County Development Board is now focused on monitoring the progress and implementation of this Strategy. The County Development Board is also currently reviewing policies in relation to transport, education, health, infrastructure, utilities, children's strategy and social inclusion.  For more information visit the County Development Board's website - www.wexfordcdb.ie

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Social Inclusion Measures Working group (SIM Working Group)

This sub-group of the CDB is responsible for co-ordinating services to socially excluded people. This is a wide brief, which covers most agencies and Local Development Groups within the County and therefore membership comes from the statutory agencies and community representatives. The group has reviewed in-depth the services to key target groups including travellers, refugees and asylum seekers. The SIM working group has also organised meetings bringing together frontline staff in key geographical areas.

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Wexford County Childcare Committee

Wexford County Childcare Committee (WxCCC) is a subgroup of the CDB. WxCCC is financed by the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme and acts as the key local component in the development of a co-ordinated approach to quality childcare within County Wexford. Wexford is fortunate enough to already have an established track record of partnership between different agencies concerned with diverse aspects of childcare.

Key activities for WxCCC include: 

  • Maintaining and increasing the number of childcare facilities and places
  • Providing a broad range of childcare training for providers and parents
  • Establishing and launching the Childcare Information Centre. This Centre is located at 11, Weafer Street, Enniscorthy.
  • Supporting Childcare Network Loch Gorman

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Community Forum

Community Development is about supporting and mobilising communities to participate in decision-making processes which affect their lives. This also means establishing structures which allow this type of participation to take place. The Community Area Fora and the County Community Forum are part of these structures. County Wexford Community Forum, a countywide network of voluntary groups, continues to grow and currently has over 600 affiliated member groups.  Through this local area networking key issues are defined by the Community and Voluntary sector.  The County Community Forum has two representatives on the County Development Board.  This structure also allows for consultation with the community and voluntary sector by various agencies and groups.  The Strategic Policy Committees of Wexford County Council also have representation from the Community Forum

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Grant Assistance

The Budget provides for the continuation of direct grant assistance (Amenity and Promotion of Interest in the Community Grants) for community-based projects in line with the policy adopted by the Council.

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RAPID

The Revitalising Areas by Planning Investment and Development (RAPID) programme has been allocated to the towns of Enniscorthy, New Ross and Wexford in the County. The programme aims to improve the quality of life of local communities and to combat the consequences of social exclusion.  RAPID status means that designated communities will be prioritised for investment by local agencies and under the National Development Plan.  RAPID co-ordinators have successfully developed RAPID area plans and been involved in a number of projects. However progress is cumulative as the nature of social exclusion means that some obstacles take time to overcome. Specific Projects include:

  • Recruitment of an Access Officer for Wexford Campus Access to Third Level Programme
  • Development of the 'Moving on' Interagency Project for Young Mothers in New Ross
  • Approval of Tenant Participation Officer for Wexford Borough Council
  • Provision of Community Education and Development Certificate Programme for New Ross
  • Wexford Building Healthy Communities Project to address health inequalities in the RAPID Communities in Wexford Town
  • Liaison with New Ross Celtic in successful Sports Capital application

Apart from individual projects the key emphasis of the work is to assist local communities in developing their capacity as agents for change in their own areas.
For more on RAPID visit www.rapidsoutheast.ie

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The Research function of the Office of Community and Enterprise collates and interprets a wide range of information related to County Wexford, the South East Region and the State.  Reports under various subjects are then compiled to ensure the dissemination of this information to key decision makers, policy makers and the general public.  A key area of work for 2003 was the analysis and collation of Census 2002 demographic and socio-economic information as it relates to County Wexford, the South East and the State. The Research Officer also works on projects in association with various departments of the County Council. The Research office holds various research resources for use by the County Council, other agencies and the public such as the Small Area Population Statistics from Census 2002, DAONRA statistics database and the MAPINFO mapping system and the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) survey software package.

View Works So Far and Reports To Date

Click Here to navigate an Interactive Wexford Electoral District Map

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Other key community projects with a Community and Enterprise involvement include:

 


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