Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Comyn for raising this issue. I wish her well with her 5 km on Easter Monday.

We agree on the importance of community centres. They are where we go for community activities, events, social supports such as she referred to, and social interaction. They are home to many of our cultural, sporting and social support clubs. They are also where communities come together in times of difficulty and times of celebration, as we saw around the country during Storm Éowyn.Over the past four years in particular, my Department has prioritised the development and enhancement of community centres across the country through a new dedicated funding stream for community centres. The community centre investment fund, CCIF, was introduced to respond to the funding needs of community centres in rural and urban areas so that we can continue to support the provision of high-quality and accessible community spaces. Since 2022, the CCIF has provided more than €109 million for the enhancement or refurbishment of existing community centres and the construction of new centres. Under the first fund launched in 2022, over €45 million was committed for improvement and refurbishment works in over 860 existing community centres across Ireland, which included 21 projects in County Louth with funding of over €900,000. I am particularly pleased to note that the majority of these projects are now complete and benefiting communities all over Ireland.

The latest iteration of the community centre investment fund in 2024 also supported the enhancement and refurbishment of community centres. Through that round of funding, more than €33 million has now been approved for more than 770 projects nationwide, including funding of up to €100,000 each that I announced for community centres only last month. A number of successful projects in Louth include the €67,000 for St. Nicholas Gaelic Football Club and €100,000 for the Drogheda Community Services Trust.

The CCIF also supports community groups that are striving to build their own new community centres to service local needs. The 2023 CCIF was opened specifically for applications for this purpose. The 2023 new-build schemes supported communities with shovel-ready projects in greenfield and brownfield sites for the construction of new community centres. Capital grants of between €1 million and €6 million were available to build multifunctional centres in areas that lacked community facilities. Through that iteration of the fund, my Department approved funding of €30 million for the construction of 12 new community centres covering nine counties.

The Moneymore Townland Community Hub was not at a sufficiently advanced stage to be able to apply. However, my Department allocated funding on an exceptional basis, as acknowledged by the Senator, of €80,000 to Louth County Council to facilitate the architectural and engineering services required to bring the project to that shovel-ready stage. The funding was provided in recognition of the need identified in the Drogheda implementation plan. I hope it is bringing the project to the stage where it will be shovel ready for investment.

Our immediate priority is to facilitate the delivery of the 770 projects that have recently been announced, but I am committed to delivering further iterations of the scheme in coming years. This is in line with the commitment in the programme for Government and it has been identified to me as a priority by the Taoiseach for the CCIF to become a permanent rolling fund. Over the coming months, I will give consideration to what the next round of the CCIF will involve and the types of facility that will be targeted. I guarantee that the fund will continue to play a central role in supporting strong and resilient communities.