Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 203: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will match the grant aid provided to a company (details supplied) in 2010 and not to cut its grant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6668/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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This company has a contract with the community services programme to provide security related services on Dublin's Northside. The company has sought additional operational support from the programme to maintain its current operations. The matter is being considered by the Department in addition to a number of similar requests from service providers supported by the programme. The Deputy will appreciate that the pressure on the public finances has significantly impacted on the resources available to this and similar programmes. The priority with respect to the programme has been to protect the jobs of some 2,700 people employed by the 450 or so community-based service providers approved for support. In order to do this, it was necessary to reduce the level of non-wage funding made available to service providers, as well as cutting technical assistance and administrative costs.

The Deputy should note that the programme is not designed to cover the full operating costs of supported service providers. A key requirement of the programme is that each service provider must develop non-public forms of income generation by way of charging fees, trading or fund-raising.