Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien. I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this matter. It relates to the community recognition fund, to which €50 million has been given. At first glance, it seems to be covering a lot of areas that should be covered in any case because they are not solely and exclusively to do with community integration. Allocations include €50,000 and €60,000 to private rugby clubs across the State and a whole range of other projects. I am delighted that funding is being given to sport and I recognise the importance of it. However, this scheme is being dressed up as some sort of community recognition fund. On 16 January 2024, the Taoiseach said in an interview broadcast on an RTÉ news bulletin in which he referenced the fund - I double-checked it before coming here - that more needs to be done to support health and education. I fully agree with him because they are the key pressure points for people. He was speaking in response to some of the unseemly things that have been going on in this country in regard to new people coming here and looking to establish themselves. In many cases, they have general support from communities and from local and national politicians.

Having listened to the interview with the Taoiseach, I decided to take it upon myself to look into the community recognition fund. The Department of Rural and Community Development issued a memorandum in 2023 outlining the purpose of the scheme. I commend the scheme and am very supportive of it. I took a further look because I wanted to see the county-by-county allocations. Thanks to the Department, I obtained a printout of every project that was listed as being a successful application under the fund. When I totted up the numbers, they told me an interesting story - first, about the geographical spread and how open and transparent that was or was not and, second, about how much money was drawn down. The initial memorandum referred to €30 million being drawn down in 2023 and €20 million this year.

I support the Taoiseach's call for greater additional focus on and support for education and health, which are two areas that are showing pressure points in many cases. I endorse that. I support the community recognition fund and the amazing work going on right across the Minister of State's Department. It is an exemplary Department that is doing really important work in recognising the enormous pressures on communities. The information on the fund refers to engaging with local authorities. The latter may make submissions for funding but will not necessarily get all of it. Given the restraints on resources at this time, the system needs to be more open and transparent. It may very well be all of that but I refer specifically to the need for more openness and transparency in terms of how the Department communicates its allocations.

The Minister of State will be familiar with the county-by-county ledger that sets out the allocations under the fund. He may not be in a position to provide the information today but I would like to know how much of the fund has been drawn for particular identified projects that are fully compliant with the terms and conditions of the scheme and how much remains to be drawn down. From reading all the correspondence, press releases and memorandums, I understand €30 million was to be given in 2023. Will he confirm whether that money has been allocated? I acknowledge that it may not all have been drawn down because there are difficulties in getting projects up and running. How can the scheme be improved? I call for a greater focus on education and health, in line with the Taoiseach's statement. Will the Minister of State set out his plans to do that?

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I will give an initial response and then follow up with further information in my second reply.

The community recognition fund is managed by the Department of Rural and Community Development and delivered locally by each of the local authorities around the country. The €50 million fund was introduced this time last year and I was delighted, together with the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to be able to announce the details of the successful projects last May. The scheme recognises the contribution being made by communities that have welcomed significant numbers of new arrivals from Ukraine and other countries. It is important to note that this funding is separate from other public funding streams that aim to support the development of public services arising from the significant number of new arrivals into Ireland. The community recognition fund is specifically designed to support the development of community facilities that will be used in the future by all members of the community.

Through this initiative, communities are being assisted to develop a wide range of projects in terms of both their scale and their scope. They include large-scale multipurpose sports facilities, walkways, cycle paths and playgrounds, with smaller amounts given for equipment for sports clubs and funding for community festivals. The fund has been allocated across all local authorities based on the number of new arrivals located there. The projects were selected following an extensive community consultation process undertaken by local authorities, which submitted individual lists of projects for approval. The focus was very much on funding projects in the towns and villages most impacted. More than 880 projects were approved for funding through the €50 million allocation and they are due to be completed by the end of this year.

Details of the allocation provided to each local authority and the projects approved for funding are available on my Department's website. The allocations varied across local authorities depending on the numbers of new arrivals located there, including both people from Ukraine and international protection applicants. The largest allocation was just over €4.4 million for County Kerry. The next highest was €3.1 million for County Donegal. The smallest allocation was €653,000 for County Longford.

The fund was established to be as user-friendly as possible, with significant flexibility provided as regards the types of projects that can be supported. In addition, funding of up to 100% of the project costs was available, with no matching funding required from local communities.The Department is also committed to providing every assistance to groups to facilitate project delivery, including with regard to managing funding drawdown in a way that facilitates community groups managing their cash flow.

The Department is in ongoing contact with local authorities in relation to progressing the delivery of projects under the fund. Local authorities are submitting funding draw-down requests to the Department in respect of these projects as they are completed.

Of the over 880 projects approved for funding, 185 have been completed and €11.5 million has been drawn down from the fund. A total of 333 projects have submitted a partial or final draw-down claim.

I agree with the Senator on the importance of health and education. Health, in particular, comes up when we are engaging with communities around the need for increased GP services. I wrote to the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, on this matter recently. In his response, the Minister explained that the Department implemented a number of measures last year in consultation with the Irish College of General Practitioners which allowed the ICGP to increase the number of places in the training colleges and create a programme to upskill people coming from abroad to work as GPs in Ireland. This programme successfully brought 100 people into the system last year. This year, it is planned to add another 250 people through the programme. There is, therefore, responsiveness in this regard.

I will address some of the Senator's other points in my closing statement.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for his detailed response. He indicated that more than 880 projects have been approved for funding, 185 have been completed and €11.5 million has been partly drawn down from the fund. I presume the full €50 million will be spent given that it has been ring-fenced and earmarked. Based on the Minister of State's response, there is a hell of a lot of money in the pot. If it is not to be drawn down, I suggest we go back to the local authorities and see what is the reality of drawing down the funds. Some of projects are very simple, for example, multi-user sports facilities. All of them are critically important. I am glad the Minister of State clarified that these projects are for the benefit of broader society and the broader community.

We talk so much about central government devolving more powers, yet we have central government allocating €1,500 to a local authority for a local playground. That begs the question as to who should be doing this.

This programme is positive and I am particularly delighted the Minister of State touched on the point I made about health and education. That is what the Taoiseach has committed himself to. When one goes through each project funded under the scheme, one sees very few education or health interventions, which are critically important for the integration of people into our community. I thank the Minister of State for his detailed response.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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To clarify, the Government is looking at how we can further support impacted towns and villages across a range of different public services. I look forward to seeing the proposals that emerge on that in the coming weeks. For now, specifically in relation to community recognition, the focus is very much on getting the approved projects delivered on the ground. These projects can only make a difference when they are operational and my Department is committed to working with all parties to ensure that happens as quickly as possible. I am confident that these projects will deliver real and lasting benefits to many communities which have been awarded funding under the community recognition fund.

My experience in the Department has been that it has a strong focus and record of working with local authorities to get capital projects done. These have a fairly predictable trajectory. When a timeline is open to get something done, the number of completions tends to increase. I think the Senator will see the number of completions accelerate as we work through the year.

Local authorities did not see this coming which meant they had to start from a standstill. We asked them to look at available projects on which they could move fast. They were not expecting the fund, so it took off slowly but the allocations being drawn down on the ground are increasing.