Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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Question 114: To ask the Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs the position regarding funding through Pobal. [6138/11]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Pobal (formerly ADM Ltd) was established by Government in 1992, in agreement with the European Commission, to access funding for the purpose of fostering local development, promoting social inclusion, reconciliation and equality, and countering disadvantage through local and social economic development. While originally tasked to distribute EU funding, the size, scale and range of programmes delivered by the company on behalf of the State have increased significantly in the intervening years. It currently manages a range of programmes on behalf of a number of Departments and other bodies – details are listed in a table.

Pobal distributes funding approved for specific purposes to a range of community-based organisations and operators. In 2010, approximately €274m was distributed to beneficiaries through Pobal. This amount is expected to rise to €285m in 2011, an increase of 4% on the 2010 amount. Pobal provides a range of services associated with the management of these funds. These services include, inter alia :

Administration of application and assessment processes;

Management of contracting/re-contracting processes;

Financial control, audit and inspections of grants paid to beneficiaries;

Provision of advisory/support function for beneficiaries;

Collection of performance indicators and output data; and

Facilitation of training/networking functions/workshops.

While Pobal operates under the aegis of my Department, it is remunerated by the relevant Department/body in respect of the services it provides. Determination of the service provided - and the associated tasks and costs incurred by Pobal - are matters for the Department or body concerned. The cost of providing these services in 2010 was some €14.8m. While the level of funding for programmes managed by the company is expected to increase in 2011, the cost of administering this funding will decrease by 4% to €14.2m.

TABLE: Programmes currently administered by Pobal

*Pobal also administers measures under the Dormant Accounts Fund for a number of Government Departments ** Also delivered on behalf of the Special EU Programmes Body