Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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85. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the total amount of funding allocated to the social inclusion and community activation programme in Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38272/25]

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. Our Department's social inclusion and community activation programme is our country’s primary social inclusion programme. SICAP is a national programme delivered locally in both rural and urban areas by local development companies. It supports those in the greatest need to address high and persistent levels of deprivation through targeted, locally-led initiatives and approaches. The programme encourages partnerships between people, community organisations, and public sector agencies to address diverse community needs. The current SICAP programme commenced in 2024 and will run until 2028. I thank the Deputy for the work he does in his own area, particularly in Blackpool. He will be aware that there are currently seven local development companies delivering the SICAP programme across the eight contract areas in Cork city, Cork county and the west Cork Islands.

While SICAP is a multi-annual funding programme, it is subject to the annual budgetary Estimates process. The total SICAP funding allocations for last year and this year for the seven companies in Cork came to €8,183,430. The Department has also provided additional funding through SICAP since 2022 to local development companies to support Ukrainian beneficiaries of temporary protection and international protection applicants. A total of €1.91 million has been allocated to the local development companies in Cork for these supports this year and last year. There has been a positive trend of year-on-year increases in SICAP funding in recent years. The Minister and I are committed to ensuring this continues in line with commitments in the programme for Government.

Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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The issue in relation to funding is about people living in disadvantaged communities, supporting people with disabilities and people with a criminal record who, as a result, have difficulty finding employment. I am concerned that there is a lack of structure for people discharged from our prisons in accommodation and in trying to get them back into the system. Will more work be done in that area? It needs to be done first when they are physically in prison, with co-ordination of their plan for when they get out. According to the records, on the north side of Cork city in particular, there are people whose only home in real terms is prison. While it is a small number of people, it is important. We need to do more in that area. Are there proposals to deal with that issue?

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy who is right to raise this matter. He has raised it previously. I have asked the Department to examine this issue. The Irish Examiner recently had an interesting profile of the north side of Cork city. It is an issue I am concerned about. We need to have a serious conversation about it. The Glen Resource Centre has a good programme for the families of those in prison. It has held a summer camp in the past few weeks. I am happy to sit down and discuss this with the Deputy because it is an important matter. Despite all the funding, outreach, activities and programmes, there is an issue we are missing somewhere. I commend the Cork City Partnership on its work, particularly in the Mayfield area. I will work with all involved to ensure we look at supports, in particular for those who have left prison to avoid that revolving door. A lot of work is being done. There are success stories but the Deputy is right to highlight the people being missed by the great programmes.

Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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It is interesting the Minister of State mentioned the Glen Resource Centre. I have been involved going back to 1996 when there was nothing at all there. We got funding from Europe to start the centre. There are now 80 organisations using the centre. It is a fantastic development with fantastic staff. All of the organisations there are working hard, providing a good service for the community. Coming back to the issue, as we come into the winter months, people will offend because they have nowhere to go. The whole idea is they will end up in prison for the winter months. There is a problem in our prisons with inadequate accommodation. We should seriously look at how to help these people when they are in prison. We need to get community groups working with them at an early stage when they come back out. I ask for that issue be worked on over the next 12 to 18 months.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for the work he has done. I taught in St. Aidan's Community College; I am familiar with the area. I recognise the issue he has highlighted, despite the great work by a variety of community organisations and mentoring. There is an empowerment piece, training, retraining and engagement between agencies. There are a number of people who re-offend once they leave prison. We have an obligation, duty and responsibility to work with everybody to ensure those people and their families are given that opportunity. If the Deputy has suggestions, I am open to working with everybody to ensure we accomplish the aim he articulated so that we do not miss people. We as a Department and a Government are about tackling many issues in terms of disadvantage and the people in our criminal justice system. There are success stories. People have left prison and made new beginnings. The Glen Resource Centre is an example. I commend the Deputy again on his work on that. It shows that by working with families and children of the men and women involved, we can make it better.