Combat Poverty Agency Act, 1986

Functions of Agency.

4.—(1) The Agency shall have the following general functions—

(a) advising and making recommendations to the Minister on all aspects of economic and social planning in relation to poverty in the State;

(b) the initiation of measures aimed at overcoming poverty in the State and the evaluation of such measures;

(c) the examination of the nature, causes and extent of poverty in the State and for that purpose the promotion, commission and interpretation of research;

(d) the promotion of greater public understanding of the nature, causes and extent of poverty in the State and the measures necessary to overcome such poverty.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, the Agency shall also have the following functions—

(a) evaluating, and advising and making recommendations to the Minister in relation to, policies and programmes of the State and of statutory and other bodies and voluntary agencies in so far as such policies and programmes affect groups or classes of persons afflicted or likely to be afflicted by poverty;

(b) the identification of possible new policies and programmes for the purpose of overcoming poverty and, in consultation with the Minister, the testing or assisting in the testing of their effectiveness on an experimental basis;

(c) the collection and dissemination of information on poverty and community development and acting as a centre for counselling and training in relation to, and for assisting, encouraging and the giving of information on, community development as a means of overcoming poverty;

(d) in consultation with the Minister, fostering and assisting (whether by means of the provision of financial or material aid or otherwise) projects of community development and activities to overcome poverty;

(e) establishing and maintaining contact with such Departments of State, statutory and other bodies and voluntary agencies as seem appropriate to the Agency to enable it to perform its other functions;

(f) the evaluation of the activities of the Agency;

(g) the publication of an annual report and such other reports as the Agency may from time to time consider appropriate;

(h) the performance of such special tasks for, and the submission of such reports to, the Minister as he may from time to time request.

(3) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, by regulations amend subsection (2) of this section so as to modify or withdraw any function to which that subsection relates, or to confer such additional functions on the Agency, as the Minister thinks proper.

(4) Regulations under this section may contain such incidental, supplementary and consequential provisions as appear to the Minister to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of the regulations.

(5) The Agency shall in the performance of its functions comply with such directions as may from time to time be given to it by the Minister.

(6) The Agency shall have such powers as are necessary for or incidental to the performance of its functions.

(7) A statutory body may and, where the Minister having statutory responsibility for it so directs, shall co-operate with the Agency in the performance of its functions.