Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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210. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the status of the review of the social inclusion and community activation programme; his plans for the programme; and the reason seniors are not included as persons under SICAP. [16935/17]

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) is the largest social inclusion intervention of its kind in the State. Its aim is to tackle poverty, social exclusion and long-term unemployment through local engagement and partnership between disadvantaged individuals, community organisations, public sector agencies and other stakeholders.

SICAP is a key intervention for the harder to reach, with delivery in each area (or Lot) overseen and managed by the relevant Local Community Development Committee (LCDC) in the Local Authority area. SICAP supports for individuals are primarily aimed at people of working age, although there is scope to assist local community groups comprising of older people from disadvantaged areas, through the Programme.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Programme for a Partnership Government has given a commitment to strengthen the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme, SICAP. In light of this, and the commitment to providing a successor Programme to SICAP when the current Programme comes to an end on 31 December this year, my Department is leading out on a number of actions which will lead to a better understanding of SICAP and its impacts, and which will inform my Department in reshaping the next iteration of SICAP.

My Department is holding a targeted national consultation process which will assist in the design of the next programme. The consultation process, which I have been leading, consists of national and regional sessions and a number of focus groups in which feedback is being sought from the key stakeholders involved. The consultation process offers a platform to consider how the programme can be refined and for solutions to be put forward in order to strengthen the programme from 2018. In addition, the ESRI has begun a qualitative study looking at SICAP goals and its governance structure as part of a wider evaluation project.

There will also be a qualitative research project looking at a cohort of SICAP participants - young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) - carried out by an external provider in 2017. This research will examine how SICAP’s Programme Implementers identify and engage with this target group, look at the types of outcomes being achieved for them, and put forward good practice examples to inform the next iteration of the programme.