Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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12. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the position regarding supports provided at a local level in community centres targeted at addressing social exclusion; if he will consider increasing funding in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22369/26]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Minister will be aware of many community organisations around the country which focus on social exclusion. Are better supports available for them, conscious of the supports already available? Social exclusion is an issue that permeates society and has a massive effect. It is incumbent on us to deal with it. If we do not, it creates all kinds of other problems. Can we create greater supports and funding for those organisations?

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Ward for his ongoing advocacy, targeting, commentary and genuine commitment to the delivery of community-led supports. He has raised this matter on numerous occasions privately and in the Dáil. The Minister and I share the Deputy's view on tackling social disadvantage. The social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, is our country's primary social inclusion intervention programme, overseen by our Department. It is a national programme delivered in rural and urban areas by local development companies, LDCs, to help those in greatest need. SICAP supports people and community groups that face disadvantage providing targeted supports in areas such as employment, mental health, education and community engagement, improving quality of life for those facing social exclusion and inequality. The Minister and I are very much aware of the ongoing need. We are committed to the provision of supports and structures. That is why as a Government and we as Ministers in the Department were delighted to have secured an additional €1.5 billion in the budget this year, bringing annual funding for SICAP to over €50 million. We are also of the view that supports should be provided to staff of local development companies in local communities which use community centres as a hub. Our Department's CSP currently supports 426 community-based organisations with a budget of €59.4 million, an increase of €4 million from last year to provide 445 local, social economic and environmental services through a social enterprise model. We will have further news on the CSP in light of the programme for Government commitments later in the month.

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. We in Ireland consider ourselves to be a fairly happy nation. Even the happiness index published recently shows that we are up there. Yet, report after report shows that loneliness in Ireland and other countries in the western world is growing all the time. Organisations such as men's sheds, community groups and church groups do amazing work bringing people together, avoiding social exclusion, providing a vehicle for people to communicate with each other and build networks and friendships which is important. Are they predominantly focused, as we live longer and better lives, on people in the older cohort? Is there more we can do for people in the younger cohort? We have pubs and cafes, of course, but they are not always the best place for people to come together. Will the Minister of State consider enhanced supports particularly for groups that deal with social exclusion, loneliness and isolation for younger ages groups? Is there something to be said for increasing supports in that regard?

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Ward raises an interesting point. Sometimes we miss that cohort of young people. Rightly, we focus on men's sheds, women's sheds, older people's social services and that integration piece. As we saw today in the announcement by the Minister, Deputy Calleary, of the CCIF, the community centre is the hub and the visible piece that leads to the ongoing delivery of integrated supports, which directly reduces social exclusion for older people, in particular. The Deputy made a good point. Perhaps working with the Ministers, Deputies Foley, Calleary and Naughton, we can look at a further model in terms of what we are already doing. Let us be honest - we need to listen and engage all the time. We have an ongoing conversation around online safety for young people but there is a piece in particular post-Covid where demand continues to grow in our Department, reflecting the complexity of life today in communities. I am open to the conversation around what structures and supports we can put in place for that younger age group, perhaps working at a cross-department level. The Deputy's points are very well made.

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I acknowledge all of the supports available already. The bodies that tend to be supported by SICAP funding and some of the other funding streams the Minister of State mentioned tend to be community organisations, which is welcome. In the context of what I was saying about the younger age groups, sports clubs also have a role, and they are successful, but they are not really in the remit of what the Minister of State has been talking about. I mention places where people can gather socially. For example, we know we have a problem with the nighttime economy and the availability of spaces for people to mix outside the pub culture. Is there any role for this kind of funding not so much for commercial supports but to facilitate the existence of cafés particularly after 9 p.m., places where people can gather? I mention supports for them perhaps in the context of a sports club or another community group or organisation. Is that outside the remit of the Department or can it be considered?

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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What Cork City Council has done on the nighttime economy with no-alcohol cafés for young people is an example the Government as a whole must look at. Our Department has a variety of schemes and programmes that reflect the whole ethos of what the Deputy is trying to achieve. I am open in terms of eligibility criteria in the new call for applications under a variety of schemes, such as the CSP or SICAP, to looking at how we can broaden the remit while mindful that we do not have an infinite budget and will have loads of applications. We need to have a conversation as we emerge from Covid and in a new world around our attitudes to alcohol and online. What the Deputy is saying reflects a new Ireland. We must open to engaging and putting a new structure in place. I would be happy to sit down with the Deputy further and engage on that. I do not want to speak for the Minister but I am sure he would also be open to having that conversation.

We must look at how we can allow these young people to make a contribution and have them involved and engaged in our community networks and, as Deputy Ward said, not just forget them, think they are all being looked after and that they have migrated to an online space that is very difficult, truculent and complex. The points Deputy Ward has made are worth considering and I certainly look forward to further engagement with him on it.