Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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144. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he or his officials have had discussions with Comhdháil Oileán na hÉireann in relation to ongoing core funding of island community groups; his views that these groups are essential to the future survival of our island communities and in particular to our non-gaeltact island communities; his plans for these groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45438/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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My Department's Local and Community Development Programme (LCDP) is the largest social inclusion intervention of its kind in the State. The current Programme officially ended at the end of 2013 having operated for four years with funding of €281 million over that period.  It is being implemented on a transitional basis for 2014 with a budget of €47 million, pending the roll out of the new Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) in April 2015.

The SICAP is one of my key priorities. The Programme’s target groups are:

- Children and Families from Disadvantaged Areas

- Lone Parents

- New Communities (including Refugees/Asylum Seekers)

- People living in Disadvantaged Communities

- People with Disabilities

- Roma

- The Unemployed (including those not on the Live Register)

- Travellers

- Young Unemployed People from Disadvantaged areas.

In accordance with the Public Spending Code, legal advice, good practice internationally and in order to ensure the optimum delivery of the services to clients, the Programme is subject to a public procurement process, which is currently underway.  Stage one (Expression of Interest) has been completed. Stage two (Invitation to Tender), got underway on 20 October and will involve the successful applicants from Stage one being invited to apply to one or more Local Community Development Committees, in Local Authority areas, to deliver the programme. Contracts for SICAP will be determined following the outcome of the procurement process.

The procurement process for SICAP was open to Local Development Companies, other not-for-profit community groups, commercial firms and national organisations that can provide the services to be tendered for to deliver the new Programme.

In Stage one, joint applications were encouraged and organisations of varying sizes (for example smaller organisations working in consortia with larger organisations) were invited to submit joint applications.

There have been no discussions between my Department and Comhdháil Oileán na hÉireann. However, a meeting was held recently between my Department and the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht in response to the issues raised regarding the continuation of funding for the Development Offices on the Islands concerned. My Department currently provides LCDP funding to five non-Gaeltacht islands - Bere, Sherkin, Inis Turk, Inis Bofin and Clare Island. It was recognised that the issues relating to these, non-Gaeltacht islands in question are outside of, and separate to, SICAP. However, both Departments fully understand the importance of the community development infrastructure on these islands and will collaborate to agree a workable solution.

In the meantime, LCDP funding, for the groups concerned, will continue until the end of March 2015.