Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1681. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the amount it would cost to restore funding to the community development programme to 2008 levels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36392/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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In 2008, the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs allocated funding of €83,450,000 under its Local and Community Development Programmes, specifically the Local Development Social Inclusion Programme (LDSIP) and the Community Development Programme.  Also in that year, that Department asked the Centre for Effective Services (CES) - an independent centre set up in a partnership between the Government and Atlantic Philanthropies - to review the design of both of these Programmes.

The CES review of these Programmes also coincided with the general downturn in economic activity which saw the Department’s allocation under its Community Development Programmes diminish considerably due to the need to ensure cost efficiencies and to ensure that funding was optimised at the front line. The amount of funding required to operate the Programmes was also affected by the cohesion process initiated by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs some years previously, which resulted in a significant reduction in the numbers of local delivery structures for a range of rural and local development programmes over the following years.

From 1 January 2010, the Local Development Social Inclusion Programme (LDSIP) and the Community Development Programme were both superseded by the new Local and Community Development Programme (LCDP).  The LCDP officially ceased at the end of 2013, having operated for four years, and was implemented on a transitional basis until end of March 2015. The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP), was rolled out across communities on 1 April 2015, following a competitive process.

The SICAP Programme Framework was informed, inter alia, by learning from the LCDP and previous community development programmes led out by Government.  

SICAP operated for a 9 month period in 2015 and the funding allocation for that year included an allocation of €2 million under the European Structural Funds (ESF) Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning (PEIL) 2014-2020 and €2 million under the Youth Employment Initiative.  The SICAP funding allocation for 2016 and 2017 includes an allocation of €3 million for each year under the ESF, which is matched by exchequer funding of the same amount. 

In 2017, SICAP, as managed and overseen by the Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) in each Local Authority area, will direct some €38 million to support tackling poverty, social exclusion and long-term unemployment through front-line interventions. I am satisfied that the programme is ensuring that those most marginalised are benefitting from a targeted and cost effective range of supports.  In addition, the programme is ensuring that resources are allocated in the fairest way possible, to make the maximum contribution to social inclusion, job creation and economic recovery.