Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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531. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the funding to community services programmes; the cost of increasing funding in line with the national minimum wage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51231/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Community Services Programme (CSP) provides financial support to community companies that provide revenue generating services of a socially inclusive nature. Many of these companies are also funded from other sources and generate revenue from the public use of their facilities and services.

A budget of just over €46m has been provided for the CSP in 2017.

The additional programme costs involved in increasing the CSP contribution to match the minimum wage would be approximately €1.9m in a full year at the current minimum wage rate and just over €3m in a full year at the proposed minimum wage rate for 2018.

The rate of CSP contribution is not aligned to the minimum wage rate of payment. The funding provided to service providers under the CSP is expressed as a fixed annual co-funding contribution towards the costs of employing a manager or a specified number of full-time equivalent positions.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.