Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am acutely aware of the increase in the cost of living and rising costs in recent months, especially increasing energy prices. Given this, the supports provided by the Department to assist communities are more important than ever. The Department was allocated €378 million for 2022, which will enable continued delivery of a wide range of measures to support communities and address emerging needs. Last November, we launched the €9 million community activities fund under the community enhancement programme. This fund allowed groups in disadvantaged areas to apply for funding for their running costs, such as utility or insurance bills. Groups could also apply for funding to carry out repairs and to purchase equipment within their communities. It is hoped to run another programme later this year. I also refer to the expansion of the community services programme support fund, which I announced last week. An additional €1 million was added to that for the remainder of this year. We have in excess of 400 community services programme projects throughout the country.

A key part of the Department's mission is to support social enterprises, and the €1.5 million scaling up scheme for social enterprise was launched by the Minister, Deputy Humphreys in July. It will provide some much-needed capital to social enterprises nationwide, including those operating in the circular economy. This will enable them to grow their operations and strengthen their impact on the communities they serve. In addition, the Department continues to provide a wide range of supports to communities, including, among others, the community and voluntary supports programme, the empowering communities fund and the scheme to support national organisations. I am confident these funding supports and policies provided will continue to deliver tangible benefits for all communities. The Department continues to engage with rural and urban stakeholders to identify and respond to issues that are having an impact on communities. I will also continue to collaborate with my Government colleagues to monitor issues that have an impact on communities in order to respond to emerging needs.

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