Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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268. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the funding an organisation (details supplied) receives through its membership of the new communities partnership each year; the reason this funding is given to the organisation; and the legislation under which the organisation receives funding from his Department. [7717/19]

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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270. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if his Department has a service level agreement directly with an organisation (details supplied); if so, the service provided by the organisation; and the persons for whom the service is provided. [7719/19]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 268 and 270 together.

I can confirm that my Department does not have a service level agreement with nor does it provide funding directly to the Venezuelan Community in Ireland.

I have outlined in my response to question 269 the grant funding provided by my Department to the New Communities Partnership for different migrant integration programmes, including the purposes to which that grant funding goes.

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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269. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if his Department has a service level agreement with the new communities partnership. [7718/19]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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My Department has three grant agreements with the New Communities Partnership, which is an national network of immigrant-led groups.

In September 2016 an invitation issued to organisations, by way of an open call, to submit proposals to receive funding for projects related to the Integration and Employment of Migrants. New Communities Partnership was one of five projects who were successful in securing grant funding. A Grant Agreement is in place for an award of €329,045 over a four-year term from 29th March 2017 to 28th March 2021. The Grant Agreement sets out the terms and conditions related to the grant and includes details about eligible expenditure, reporting requirements, payment schedule, budget, operations plan, etc. The grant is 50% co-financed by the Department of Justice and Equality and 50% by the European Social Fund. To date, €197,427 has been paid to New Communities Partnership under this grant award.

The grant is to support New Communities Partnership’s ‘Migrant Access Programme’ which provides employment training and supports for unemployed/under-employed migrants in Ireland. The supports include assessment of needs for participants and training courses and workshops to create and upskill their capability to access the labour market.

The Department of Justice and Equality is a beneficiary of funding from the European Social Fund (ESF) and administers funding for the Programme for Employment, Inclusion and Learning (PEIL) 2014-20. This programme has a number of actions and in this case Action 2.7 related to the Integration and Employment of Migrants. The funding awarded to New Communities partnership is subject to EU rules regarding the management of funds and its operations and finances are closely monitored by the Department in accordance with the Grant Agreement.

The other two grant agreements with the New Communities Partnership are as follows:

The organisation received €117,000 in 2017 for a 3 year project aimed at youth integration, as part of National Funding to Promote the Integration of Immigrants, and funding of €5,000 allocated under the Communities Integration Fund in 2018, for a Cork city-based integration programme. Both the National Funding to Promote the Integration of Migrants and the Communities Integration Fund are administered by the Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration within my Department, with awards made following an open competitive process.