Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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483. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the concerns expressed by the Northern Ireland community relations council in relation to the inadequate resourcing of organisations progressing the work of reconciliation in different communities throughout Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40244/14]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I am very conscious of the issue the Deputy has raised. A number of organisations have expressed their concern to me about the overall level of funding currently available for peace and reconciliation work.The advancement of reconciliation on this island remains a priority issue for me and my Department. I am pleased that the budget of my Department’s Reconciliation Fund has been maintained in Budget 2015 at €2.74 million. This reflects the Government’s commitment to the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement commitment relating to the promotion of reconciliation, and its recognition of the importance of supporting the work of civil society groups in this area. The Reconciliation Fund awards supports projects that tackle sectarianism and contribute to reconciliation through education, dialogue, culture and commemoration; promote tolerance and respect; challenge stereotypes of one’s own and other communities; and develop and strengthen meaningful cross-border links. All applications to the Fund are assessed in terms of their potential to meet the objectives and criteria of the Reconciliation Fund’s Strategy, which was launched in June 2014. Each year, approximately 150 organisations are awarded funding for their work on addressing sectarianism and promoting reconciliation.

As well as the Government’s own support for reconciliation, the international community has, of course, made a major contribution to this work. The previous phase of a number of EU funding programmes, which support reconciliation and peace-building work, ran from 2007 to 2013. The draft operational programme for EU PEACE IV (covering the period 2014-2020 and involving resources of some €260M) was jointly submitted to the European Commission by the Government and the Northern Ireland Executive in late September.

In addition to the EU, the International Fund for Ireland, which is supported by financial contributions from the US Government, continues to make a valuable contribution to promoting community relations in marginalised and hard to reach communities.