Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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478. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the investment made by his Department in the Cavan, Monaghan and north Meath area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37645/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department administers a number of funding programmes, including Ireland's official overseas development programme, Irish Aid. As part of Irish Aid, funding is provided through the annual Development Education Grants Scheme for projects aimed at promoting awareness of and engagement with global development and justice issues. Information on Development Education grants is available on the Irish Aid website www.irishaid.ie.

Since it was established in 1982, the Reconciliation Fund has been supporting NGOs, community groups, and voluntary organisations to support reconciliation and to create better understanding between people and traditions on the island of Ireland and between Ireland and Britain. The Fund has an annual budget of €2.7 million with which it supports such projects. Communities from across both Northern Ireland and the border region have in particular been beneficiaries of the Fund. The projects listed below which were awarded grants by the Fund in 2016 have promoted reconciliation by bringing people together on a cross-community and cross-border basis around activities focusing on sports, commemoration, and youth.

My Department’s Emigrant Support Programme supports Irish communities overseas by funding non-profit organisations and projects. From time to time funding is granted to an organisation based in Ireland for projects overseas to foster more strategic links with the global Irish and to support frontline welfare services that help the most vulnerable members of our overseas communities.

The table lists funding provided to projects in the Cavan, Monaghan and Meath area through the Development Education Grants Scheme, the Reconciliation Fund and the Emigrant Support Fund from March 2016 to date. The table also provides details of nationwide programmes, for which a county-by-county breakdown is not available.