Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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392. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the estimated full year cost of matching the contribution to the community services programme to the national minimum wage rate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14725/18]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Community Services Programme (CSP) supports community organisations to provide local services through a social enterprise model. Around 425 organisations are supported under the CSP, with funding provided as a contribution to the cost of a manager and an agreed number of full-time equivalent positions.

The CSP contribution is based on a 39-hour working week. It is not aligned to the national minimum wage, rather it is a fixed annual contribution that is required to be co-funded by the organisation concerned from other sources, for example, from income received from the public use of their facilities and services.

The allocation for the CSP in 2018 is €46.2m. It would cost an additional €3m annually to match the increase in the national minimum wage in 2018. There are no plans to seek an increase in programme funding for this purpose.

My Department plans to commence a review of the CSP later this year.