Ms Oonagh Fleming:

The sustainability fund was formalised in 2017 in response to a policy change, which involved minimum qualifications in the sectors. The community sector was going to be affected where it was using community employment workers in ratio with children. With that in mind, a response was designed and a case management approach was taken because, and I know I am talking to the converted, services are so individual. A service might look the same on the outside - you might say it caters for a certain age range and has four rooms - but how it operates and staffs those rooms and manages rosters and opening hours will all affect matters, so a case management approach was used and there are community services that will acknowledge that - not for profits. A total of €1 million was given out in 2017 while just short of €600,000 was given out in 2018. This addressed that issue over a period of time. Those are the principles underpinning the sustainability fund. It is to support a service in its own specific circumstances to move from where it is to a more sustainable and viable footing. That was the approach that was taken because the one-size-fits-all model does not really work for it. The changes that were made to sustainability took place during Covid, so it was opened up to providers in the not-for-profit sector by the Minister. Two different strands were run - one in 2020 and the other in 2021. More of the private for-profit services were funded in those two years than non-profit services.

Possibly it involves the branding and the communication - how it feels to a private business - but it is a very genuine offer of support and it works if people engage with it. Finance is often the answer but it may not be the only answer. There is that very good support on getting that operational support at local level that can probably identify things for the owner as well and we are working to make it more accessible.