Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will make two or three comments before answering the question on the Dormant Accounts Fund. The Dormant Accounts Acts provide the framework for the administration of unclaimed accounts.

The main purpose of the legislation is to reunite account holders or policyholders with their funds but, in order to utilise the unused funds, the legislation also introduces a scheme for their disbursement. This money is added to the Government debt. The moneys are voted upon in government. The Department is responsible for the management of the overall fund and the delivery of some of the measures within the action plans.

For this year, 2019, our Department will have €12 million. The key measures that will be supported through that will be the social inclusion fund and the senior alert scheme. The funding for the social inclusion fund is €5 million and the funding for the senior alert scheme is €2 million. The funding for social enterprise is €2 million. The money will first be allocated for either the social inclusion scheme or Pobal and then it will be given to the community groups. All the projects funded are published on the website.

We are also allocating money, €1.2 million, for the capital fund for the development of the volunteer centres. Up to €1 million has been allocated for employment along the Atlantic economic corridor. All the groups that get the money are on the website so there is transparency.