Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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2. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the percentage of projects that are community owned and those that are owned by local authorities which applied for the community centres investment fund; and the number of local authority-owned projects that were awarded funding under the community centres investment fund. [62623/22]

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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My question concerns the percentage of projects that are community owned and those owned by local authorities that applied to the community centre investment fund and the number of local authority-owned projects awarded funding under this community centre investment fund.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Government is fully aware of the challenges facing community and voluntary organisations now and I was delighted to launch the €15 million community centres investment fund earlier this year. The huge interest in this fund shows how important community centres are for communities throughout Ireland. Under the 2022 fund, applications were invited under three categories, with funding of up to €300,000 available. On 12 October, I announced over €12.5 million in funding for 580 successful category 1 applicants. On 8 December, I was delighted to announce a further €33 million in funding for 278 successful categories 2 and 3 applicants. Details of the successful applicants are available on my Department's website, www.gov.ie/drcd.

It is clear that this is a much-needed and appreciated fund for communities nationwide. I was determined to make the process of applying for this funding as straightforward as possible so as not to burden groups run on a voluntary basis. As a result, detailed information is not available for each of the specific headings referenced by the Deputy. Following on from the huge interest in the 2022 fund, I was delighted to secure €20 million in budget 2023 to run the community centre investment fund again in 2023. It is intended that the 2023 fund will be targeted towards new-build community centres, as well as upgrades and improvements to existing centres. I expect to be in a position to launch the 2023 fund in quarter 1 of 2023.

The Deputy will appreciate that many of these applications came from community centres and communities and volunteers on the ground. These were assessed by Pobal. It was not information that we looked for, but we had to ensure applicant groups were constituted properly etc. There was a need to be speedy to get this out to the groups as fast as possible.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the community centre investment fund. It was something I called for while I was a member of Fingal County Council, as well as something I called for in this House. I hope the Minister enjoyed her trip to Hartstown community centre. I again commend the centre management. The Minister saw the passion and joy on the faces there when this substantial amount of funding was awarded. It will secure Hartstown community centre for the future. I also welcome that Fingal County Council is going to take this centre on board and take ownership of it, while the management of and planning regarding this centre remains in the community. My point is that most local authorities have a substantial fund for their own community centres and have used these funds for many years. This has been done through their own capital funding. A specific group of the centres, though, those not owned by local authorities, do not have access to this type of funding. In future, then, as we move on, can we get a bit more targeting concerning these centres?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I had a great day in Hartstown last week with the Deputy, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, and the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers. There was a good turnout on the day. It was a lovely event. I thank all the local volunteers and the committee in Hartstown for the work they put into the application. This was the centre about which concerns were expressed some years ago regarding whether it would survive. I saw the "Save Hartstown" signs in place myself last week, so we are delighted that we have been able to support it. It would be a desperate blow for that community if the centre was not maintained.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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Yes.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The grant of €300,000 will ensure that the centre does not just survive but thrives in future. The centre in Hartstown was in the ownership of the diocese, but it is now being taken over by Fingal County Council. This is a good thing. The support of the local authority will be of great help in future. We are happy to work together. I come from a rural area, and the community centres there are nearly all run by volunteers. Few centres are owned by local authorities. I am happy, though, to work together because it is the communities we want to focus on.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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Again, there is no issue with the concept of the community centre investment fund. It is a good fund and a substantial amount of money.

What I noticed when I was going through all of the allocations - I will refer to Dublin West and Fingal because I know them better - is that there were a number of Fingal County Council owned, run and managed community centres that also got phase 1 and phase 2. None of them got phase 3, but certainly phase 1 and phase 2. They have substantial capital funding. Not all local authorities have that. Obviously, the Minister wanted to get the first tranche of money out there to people. Is there a way that we can sit down, have a look at this and provide it in a more targeted way so that, for those local authorities that have substantial capital funding, there is consideration if there is money left over that it could go to them, but primarily to those that are non-local authority owned or even local authorities that do not have substantial funding? Some local authorities struggle with funding. Perhaps it could be a bit more targeted and they could then get an even more substantial amount of money.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I see the point the Deputy is making all right. In fairness, the majority of the applications that came in were from community owned ones. There are some local authority owned ones. However, I take the Deputy's point that if there is an obligation on the local authorities to support those centres, they should be honouring that obligation. At the same time, we want to make sure that we have good facilities.

Of course, this was supposed to be originally a €15 million fund but in the end, we announced over €45 million in grants. As I stated in Hartstown, we are all on the same hymn sheet when it comes to supporting our community centres. As with any scheme we have, we will certainly look at it to see can we make it better.

Generally, the feedback has been really good on this scheme. We will engage with everybody over the course of the coming months in terms of paying out the money and if we see issues that need to be addressed, we are happy to do that. Indeed, I am happy to hear any suggestions from here as well. As I have stated previously, I listen.