Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The development and enhancement of community centres across the country has been a priority for the Government. This has been achieved through a range of my Department’s funding schemes, including the new community centre investment fund that I introduced two years ago. Under the 2022 fund, over €45.8 million has been committed for improvement and refurbishment works to more than 860 existing community centres. I am happy to confirm that approximately 600 of these projects are now complete or have submitted their final progress reports. These progress reports are currently being reviewed in advance of final payment. Project extensions have been provided for approximately 250 projects, with a small number of other extension requests currently being assessed. The majority of these extensions are to July. In a small number of cases where exceptional circumstances have arisen, extensions beyond this date are being considered. I believe this represents substantial progress under the fund and I know that the funding is being put to good use.

Following on from this investment, I wanted to assist community groups striving to build their own community centres to service local needs. In 2023, I announced a new round of the community centre investment fund to support communities with shovel-ready projects for the construction of new community centres. Last month, I was delighted to announce an investment of more than €30 million, which will deliver 12 new community centres nationwide. These are shovel-ready projects and I expect the tendering process to commence for each over the coming months. The details of all of these projects are available on my Department’s website.

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