Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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3. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the engagements she has had with community-based organisations in relation to tackling the cost of living and other major societal challenges; if she has met with an organisation (details supplied) on this matter; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27813/22]

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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This question relates to engagements with community-based organisations on tackling the cost of living and other major societal challenges. Has the Minister met with organisations, such as the alliance of 32 organisations, on this matter?

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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The programme for Government recognises the importance of regular and open engagement with all sectors of society. In this regard, I work with the community and voluntary sector through the cross-sectoral group, CSG, in implementing Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities, the five-year strategy to support the community and voluntary sector. The community and voluntary pillar, of which Community Platform is a member, is represented on the CSG. The Department of Rural and Community Development has worked collaboratively with the sector through the CSG to create and agree a document setting out values and principles for collaboration and partnership working with the community and voluntary sector, which was approved by the Government recently.

Another key action in the strategy is the establishment of a civic forum for formal dialogue between the community and voluntary sector and local and central government. My Department is working on the design of this forum, which will take place later this year. The forum will be developed in collaboration with community and voluntary stakeholders and its work will be underpinned by the recently agreed values and principles.

In my capacity as Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection, I host an annual social inclusion forum, which provides people affected by poverty and social exclusion, as well as the community organisations representing them, with the opportunity to come together with officials from relevant Departments to discuss poverty and social inclusion policy. One of the workshops at this year's forum, to be held in June, will be on income adequacy and the cost of living.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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We all know there is a major difference between talking and having a real, genuine input into the challenges faced by all community organisations regarding the cost of living and other significant issues facing our society. The alliance has put out a call because there is a concern about the quality of that engagement and how genuine it will be in taking all the opinions on board. Ms Rachel Doyle, co-director of Community Work Ireland, which is a member of Community Platform, has said:

It is not credible that the Government can expect to find the best solutions to crucial social issues for all of our society such as childcare, housing and health without the full and equal engagement of the representatives of those who depend most on these essential public services. We know first-hand from Community Platform members the struggle which diverse groups in our communities are experiencing and the measures needed to address them.

Community Platform is calling for that genuine engagement with the Government and to have its input taken on board and implemented.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I am dividing my reply into two halves as regards my role. As part of my role in the Department of Rural and Community Development, I spend much of my week engaging with the community and voluntary sector through different platforms and different formats. I am very familiar with members of Community Platform. I meet with many of them periodically regarding different issues. I have not had a formal meeting with Community Platform as a collective since last year. A number of Ministers and I met the Taoiseach. We had an initial discussion about social dialogue but formal meetings with Community Platform, particularly on the issues the Deputy outlined, are not what I do as part of my remit at the Department of Rural and Community Development. However, with my Department of Social Protection hat on, there are opportunities that I mentioned in my opening answer.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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This is critically important because of the scale of the rise in costs that society is facing at present. There is deep concern following the Taoiseach's statement today about the increasing cost of fuel because of the Ukrainian crisis, on foot of the deal done last night in the European Parliament. People are genuinely terrified about what will happen and how they will be able to live. The summer months will be a little easier because if it is a good summer, as we hope it will be, there will obviously be reduced costs for people, but they are terrified of what will happen as they come into the winter. Community organisations are in the same position. Members of those organisations are talking personally about their projects and how they will fund themselves, but they are also talking about the people they work with. That is what they care most about and those people are the ones they are most concerned about. It is about having that impact, and sitting at the table having a real and genuine engagement and partnership with the Government and Departments, to ensure the things they are talking about and that matter to them are implemented.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I will not go through the various lists and forums through which I engage with the sector. As I said, I spend a lot of time doing it. On what the Deputy is talking about and the wider challenges society is facing, the civic forum we are planning for later this year is possibly the best outlet to tease out the major issues and to get a good representation of civil society around the table. That might then feed further into social dialogue, which is also something we want to progress. I take the Deputy's points. I have been contacted only today by Community Platform with a view to meeting and I will be glad to do so.