Results 581-600 of 2,335 for speaker:Joe O'Brien

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Voluntary Sector (13 Jun 2023)

Joe O'Brien: I take the Deputy's point about costs. We have different levels of funding for different types of organisations. The level the Deputy is talking about tends in many cases to get support via LCDCs and the community support fund we are in the process of rolling out across local authorities at the moment. We announced last year that €10 million would be available to grassroots groups,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Voluntary Sector (13 Jun 2023)

Joe O'Brien: In 2019, my Department published Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities: A Five-Year Strategy to Support the Community and Voluntary Sector in Ireland 2019-2024. The strategy reaffirms the Government’s commitment to supporting the sector and addressing some of the burdens faced by service providers, while also recognising the reality of finite resources and the need to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Misuse of Drugs (13 Jun 2023)

Joe O'Brien: I understand the submission from Citywide Drugs Crisis Campaign to the Citizens' Assembly on Drug Use makes a number of suggestions for key areas of action, including further investment in community development responses and the need to enhance the voice of communities in tackling deprivation and its links with drug abuse. The Deputy will appreciate that some of the actions called for in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Misuse of Drugs (13 Jun 2023)

Joe O'Brien: I will flesh out a little my Department’s responsibilities on the national drug strategy. My Department has two main goals within the strategy, both of which are implemented under SICAP. These are to provide supports, including homework clubs, additional tuition and career guidance counselling and to support community awareness of drugs programmes and youth work in collaboration with...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Misuse of Drugs (13 Jun 2023)

Joe O'Brien: I also want to mention the role of drug task forces. Local and regional drug and alcohol task forces implement the national drug strategy in the context of the needs of their local areas. The strategy is implemented through action plans that have identified existing and emerging gaps in supply reduction, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and research. In my own area, I would mention...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community Development Projects (13 Jun 2023)

Joe O'Brien: As the Deputy will be aware, the concept of community wealth building refers to a range of approaches to local economic development, including community-led local development. My department has in place a range of policies and programmes which support community wealth building. Programmes such as LEADER, SICAP and the Community Services Programme all support community-led initiatives. My...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Schemes (13 Jun 2023)

Joe O'Brien: My department's Community Services Programme (CSP) currently supports over 420 community-based organisations to provide local services through a social enterprise model. CSP provides an annual co-funding contribution towards each full-time equivalent (FTE) position being supported, and, where warranted, towards the cost of employing a manager. A new call for proposals was announced in March...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Schemes (13 Jun 2023)

Joe O'Brien: Last November, I was delighted to launch the 2022 Community Support Fund (CSF) under the Community Enhancement Programme, with funding of €10 million to assist thousands of community groups across the country. Support is available to, for example, Parish Halls, Community Centres, Local Development Associations, Social Clubs, Senior Citizen Groups, Men’s and Women’s...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Schemes (13 Jun 2023)

Joe O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 790 and 791 together. The Rural Social Scheme (RSS) is an income support scheme that provides part-time employment opportunities for farmers and fishermen and women in receipt of specified social welfare payments, and who are underemployed in their primary occupation. RSS is specifically designed and delivered to qualified people of working age whose...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes (13 Jun 2023)

Joe O'Brien: The Community Employment Scheme (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a temporary, fixed term basis. The programme is delivered through independent CE sponsor organisations that receive state funding from the department to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (13 Jun 2023)

Joe O'Brien: Job Initiative (JI) is an employment support scheme which was originally designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities. Participants on JI are employed full time for 39 hours per week. The current rate for JI participants is €495 per week. The JI rate benefits from any...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes (13 Jun 2023)

Joe O'Brien: The Community Employment (CE) programme aims to enhance the employability of disadvantaged and long-term unemployed people by providing work experience and training opportunities for them within their local communities on a temporary fixed term basis. There are currently over 18,600 participants on CE with a Budget of almost €367 million for 2023. CE schemes are typically sponsored...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Programmes (13 Jun 2023)

Joe O'Brien: My department's Community Services Programme (CSP) currently supports over 420 community-based organisations to provide local services through a social enterprise model. CSP provides an annual co-funding contribution towards each full-time equivalent (FTE) position being supported, and, where warranted, towards the cost of employing a manager. As part of the CSP restructuring process, a...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Programmes (13 Jun 2023)

Joe O'Brien: My Department's Community Services Programme (CSP) currently supports over 420 community-based organisations to provide local services through a social enterprise model. CSP provides an annual co-funding contribution towards each full-time equivalent (FTE) position being supported, and, where warranted, towards the cost of employing a manager. The CSP contribution is not aligned to the...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community Development Projects (13 Jun 2023)

Joe O'Brien: Last November, I was delighted to launch the 2022 Community Support Fund (CSF) under the Community Enhancement Programme, with funding of €10 million to assist thousands of community groups across the country. A key feature of the Community Enhancement Programme is that it is targeted to the specific challenges facing local community groups and delivers immediate, tangible supports...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community Development Projects (13 Jun 2023)

Joe O'Brien: As a partnership between the private sector and Government, Rethink Ireland (formerly Social Innovation Fund Ireland) has been funded from the Dormant Accounts Fund through contractual funding arrangements since its creation in 2013. The business model which these arrangements support is for Government funding to match the philanthropic donations on a 50:50 co-funded basis i.e., every euro...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Suicide Prevention (31 May 2023)

Joe O'Brien: Details regarding funding supplied by my Department to the organisations referred to by the Deputy and other charity groups working directly in suicide care in Ireland are set out below. Funding may be provided to these organisations by other Government Departments and this information is not included in this response. Funding of €4,150 was provided by my Department to the Samaritans...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Communications (30 May 2023)

Joe O'Brien: I assure the Deputy there are layers of communication across all levels of Government. At the highest level, we have the Cabinet subcommittee on Ukraine. We also have a senior officials' group. At a local level, we have community response forums, which are co-ordinated at a higher level by the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, and County and City Management Association, CCMA. I...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Communications (30 May 2023)

Joe O'Brien: I thank the Deputy for the question. Since the beginning of 2022, Ireland and many other European countries have experienced a significant increase of new arrivals seeking international protection. As of 26 May, there are over 20,600 people accommodated in the international protection accommodation services, IPAS, system as a whole, compared with 11,000 people at this time last year....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Communications (30 May 2023)

Joe O'Brien: The Government is developing a more strategic long-term plan to deal with the allocation of accommodation in consultation with local government. Government is also developing a more systematic approach to communicate with local communities. A tender process was initiated by the Department of the Taoiseach on 25 April to seek support and advice in the development of effective public...