Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan. The funding scheme to support national organisations in the community and voluntary sector aims to provide multi-annual funding to national organisations towards core costs associated with the provision of services. The current funding scheme commenced in July 2011 and was due to expire in December 2013. The Minister extended it to the end of June 2014, however, with a view to a new scheme commencing from 1 July this year. The overall budget for 2014, under both the old and new scheme, is some €3.1 million.

During 2013, the Department carried out a review of the scheme, which found that it has fulfilled its main objective of providing multi-annual funding to national organisations towards core costs associated with the provision of services. The review recommended that organisations be required to demonstrate clearly the added value of the work proposed. The effective use of core funding in recipient organisations also requires that robust governance and cost control procedures are in place within those organisations.

The new scheme was advertised for applications earlier this year. The Minister has asked Pobal to undertake an assessment of the applications received, given that organisation's significant experience and expertise of both the design of assessment criteria and completion of assessment functions.

A large number of the applicant organisations sought the maximum level of funding available or, in some cases, an amount in excess of that. As a result, the number of organisations that could potentially be funded under the scheme, within the budget available, was significantly lower than for previous schemes. The Minister had concerns in regard to this and considered the issue carefully as he was anxious to make funding available to as many organisations as possible within the prevailing resource constraints. The Minister concluded his assessment of the situation, taking Pobal's assessment and recommendations into account, and announced the scheme allocations this week.

Some 157 applications were received by Pobal. Of these, three applications did not meet the basic eligibility criteria. The remaining 154 applications were appraised by Pobal against the criteria as outlined in the application guidance and 55 applications were approved for funding for the two-year period from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2016. The Irish Deaf Society is not one of the organisations approved for funding on this occasion.

Pobal has put in place a dedicated team to deal with any inquiries from applicants and to provide detailed feedback. There is also an appeals process and Pobal has provided applicants with detailed information on this process. As this appeals process is now live, it would not be appropriate for me to make any further comment on the funding process or to the application of any particular organisation.

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