Written answers
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs
Family Mediation Services
12:00 pm
Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Question 410: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the reason for ending community support programme funding of â¬8,134 to a mediation service (details supplied) in County Dublin; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that this will force the closure of this service of the community; if he will reinstate this funding to the group in question; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4611/10]
Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The organisation referred to by the Deputy transferred to my Department's Community Service Programme (CSP) in 2006 from the Social Economy Programme which was operated by FÃS. An application and business plan was subsequently approved for funding and a contract commenced at the beginning of April 2007. That contract expired at the end of December 2009 and an offer has been made to renew it for a further period.
Funding of â¬46m is available under the CSP in 2010, an overall reduction of some 9% over last year. When account is taken of administrative and related project costs, the reduction in the funding available to directly support CSP projects is generally of the order of 8%. Of the 450 or so organisations approved to deliver services under the CSP - an increase of 80 on the position at the beginning of 2009 - contracts in respect of some 320 projects expired at the end of last year. In the current economic climate, I am very keen that the current levels of employment in these organisations is maintained. However, given the reduction in overall funding for the CSP, I can only do this by abolishing the non-wage grant that was previously payable.
In this context, the Deputy should note that I have provided organisations - including the group referred to by the Deputy - with an opportunity to apply for an immediate review of their 2010 funding allocation where it has implications for the sustainability of the service being delivered or where the organisation has concerns of its financial viability.
It should also be noted that, in the context of being potentially offered three year contracts to the end of 2012, relevant organisations will have their financial situation and operations more comprehensively examined. A key requirement of the CSP is that organisations contracted to deliver services undertake to generate a significant level of resources from non-public sources by way of trading, charging fees, fund raising, etc. I should also add that some 130 organisations that have contracts extending into 2010 are unaffected at this time by the reduction in the non-wage grant.
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