Border social services need 'co-ordinated approach'
People in border areas could be losing out on vital social services because of a lack of North- South co-operation, according to a study published today.
There is no co-ordinated approach to social work between Northern Ireland and the Republic, said Dr Deirdre Heenan of the University of Ulster.
Dr Heenan said people living in border areas had high levels of deprivation and high levels of need because of the very nature of national boundaries.
“While we pay lip service to the idea of working more closely together, we do not do very much in the way of cross-border co-operation,” said Dr Heenan.
However her research showed, she said, that collaboration and co-operation had not been realised to its full potential.
Dr Heenan, who carried out the research with the head of the School of Policy Studies, Professor Derek Birrell, said it showed there was “quite a degree of fragmentation” of sources of funding.
Social services agencies and groups depended on a “cocktail” of funding from different sources to facilitate cross-border projects.
Legal obstacles to greater cross-border co-operation included differences in health and safety legislation, the licensing of products, conditions of employment and pay scales.
The research found day-to-day co-operation took place, but on a relatively small scale.
Dr Heenan added: “The absence of mainstreaming and continuity threatens the continued development of co-operation. To date collaboration and co-operation in this area has not reached its full potential.”
