Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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78. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development her plans to increase funding and resources to local development companies that administer schemes such as the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme which will have an increased role in the provision of advice and services for Ukrainian refugees; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18038/22]

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Minister outline if she has plans to increase funding and resources to local development companies that administer schemes such as the social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, which will have an increased role in the provision of advice and services for Ukrainian refugees.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I am always glad to take the opportunity to talk about SICAP. That programme is our country's primary social inclusion intervention. It aims to reduce poverty and promote social inclusion and equality. It is delivered locally by the local development companies referenced by the Deputy, who work with the most disadvantaged and hardest to reach in our communities.

My Department is in constant contact with the 49 local development companies, LDCs, and their representative body, the Irish Local Development Network. I am familiar with the work they do, their unique role and their potential to play a key role in the overall framework of supports for new arrivals from Ukraine.

I believe SICAP to be an important programme and I was delighted to secure a 10% increase for it for 2022, the largest increase since the programme was launched. This represents a €4 million increase and provides for the creation of a significant number of job places for new community work on the ground in communities across Ireland.

Late last year, I also asked that, in 2022, SICAP have a particular focus on five national priorities, one of which was new communities. SICAP staff, working with LDCs, have valuable experience and knowledge of available resources in their areas to support migrants, asylum seekers and refugees. Every realistic flexibility is being offered by the Department in respect of SICAP so that its circa 600 community development workers can contribute locally in responding to the needs of the Ukrainian refugees as they are accommodated around the country.

SICAP workers were to the forefront in their communities during the community call response to Covid-19. Building on these structures and relationships, community response forums are being repurposed in each local authority area. These will enable all those involved at a local level to work together to support the integration of Ukrainian refugees into our communities under the stewardship of the local authorities. I am keeping a close eye on local efforts around the country, in particular the role played by LDCs and SICAP. I will continue to support them however I can.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State. He referred to the 49 LDCs. I am conscious that they assist 15,000 community groups and up to 170,000 individuals annually, which represents a tremendous outreach and a large amount of work. My two LDCs are Cavan County Local Development and Monaghan Integrated Development, which deliver a range of integration and resettlement programmes and supports to refugees and asylum seekers in new communities who have come here to escape conflicts. Like other groups working with refugees and asylum seekers at local level, for example, family resource centres, which are funded differently, LDCs will be placed under severe pressure because they will face an increased workload over the coming months as we welcome more Ukrainians who come to Ireland to escape the dreadful conflict unleashed upon them by Russia. LDCs are under pressure as it is, though. We want to see them continuing to support local people who need it as well as refugees from various countries, including Ukrainians, who deserve immense support. While I welcome the Minister of State's comments on additional support, will it be sufficient to reach everyone who needs it?

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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The Deputy made an important point about the role of SICAP, in that it does one-to-one work with people while also supporting community groups. She mentioned a figure of 15,000. That will be an important role for SICAP. It is important that we support Ukrainian groups that are organising themselves. SICAP would be well placed to do that, but it is also a good use of resources to support others in developing their own groups and carving out their own paths.

Community response forums will be useful in making the most of the resources. That there are 600 community workers is good, and that number is growing with the 10% increase in the budget, but there are demands on them as well. The best use of their time will be achieved by co-ordinating with community response forums, given that there are other community groups that can add to the community workers' capacity. The community response forums will play an important role in ensuring that we get the most out of SICAP.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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The supports being offered to refugees and new communities are invaluable, but they are usually for a limited time. I have met some refugees. Although they received invaluable support, they were expected to cope on their own after a certain while. They had made connections with staff and were still putting questions to them and looking for their support even after the programmes they had been on had finished. The staff had got to know them and were reluctant not to help them. The staff are taking on a great deal of extra work and responsibility.

If any of us had to uproot suddenly and go to a different country where we were unable to speak the language, were unfamiliar with the culture or way of life and had nothing with us, we would want support as well. The greatest support of all is staff and we would make connections with those staff. There needs to be enough support to help the Ukrainians coming to Ireland, to continue helping other refugees who are here and to continue helping local people on the ground. This is my greatest concern.

It has been mentioned to me that community response forums did not reach out to family resource centres. While this is a different issue, I hope that they will because those centres provide a great deal of support to people on the ground.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I would encourage community response forums to reach out to every available community and voluntary group. On the other side, I would encourage community and voluntary groups to contact the forums. It is important that everyone who can do something is in the room, there is co-ordination and we are making the most of resources. At particular pinch points where there is exceptional pressure, we have added resources to the community services programme: Lisdoonvarna; the volunteer centres in south Dublin to help in Citywest; and Wexford.

I will take this opportunity to send the message out to the public at large that, if people want to help, they should contact their local volunteer centres. We now have strong volunteering infrastructure in Ireland. We have a local volunteer centre in every local authority area. These centres support people and organisations in facilitating volunteers. I encourage people to take this opportunity if they wish.