Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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920. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the supports her Department has made and plans to make available for community groups and organisations that have lost significant amounts of revenue during Covid-19; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23421/20]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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Through our ongoing engagement with the Community and Voluntary sector, my Department is keenly aware of the challenges faced by the sector whilst meeting increased demands on many of their services. My Department is providing additional vital supports to rural and community organisations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is supporting the following initiatives:

On 16 March 2020, my Department launched the COVID-19 Government Action Plan in partnership with other Departments, State agencies and our extensive network of community and voluntary organisations. These initiatives provide support for volunteering, funding to ALONE for their crisis telephone support line, and an email helpdesk facility to assist smaller community groups with their queries.

On 9 April last, an initial €2.5 million COVID-19 Emergency Fund was introduced to provide immediate and urgently needed funding to community and voluntary groups that are participating in the Government’s “Community Call” initiative which is being led by the Local Authorities.

On 11 May 2020, a €40 million support package for the Community and Voluntary Sector, Charities and Social Enterprises was launched by Government and is administered by the Department. This funding is being made available through the Dormant Accounts Fund, which is specifically set aside to support initiatives which will benefit the most disadvantaged groups in society.

The package included:

A €35 million COVID-19 Stability Fund which will provide a level of support to qualifying organisations who are most in need and have seen their trading and/or fundraising income drop significantly during the crisis; and

A €5 million Government commitment to a Philanthropy Fund, (Innovate Together) which will focus on supporting responses to the COVID-19 crisis that require innovative and adaptive solutions to existing and emerging challenges.

To date, funding of over €25million has been allocated to more than 480 organisations under the COVID 19 stability Fund. This funding is supporting the delivery of critical services in every part of the country.

This funding is provided in addition to the more than €45 million in funding, announced last November, for the Dormant Accounts Action Plan 2020. That funding was allocated for 43 separate measures to be delivered across nine Government Departments to benefit disadvantaged groups.

The funding package for these organisations is complementary to the range of other supports provided by the Government to support businesses, employers and employees on foot of the crisis.

As a result of COVID-19 my Department also developed a €1.2m Support Fund to assist Community Service Programme, or CSP, supported organisations.

In June 2020, the Department launched the 2020 Community Enhancement Programme (CEP) with funding of €2m. The CEP provides capital grants towards enhancing the facilities available to communities. The CEP is administered by Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) in each Local Authority area.

In August, with funding from the July stimulus package, the Department launched a €5m fund under the Community Enhancement Programme for community centres and community buildings.

The Department’s other investment programmes, such as the 2020 Town and Village Renewal Scheme, CLÁR programme, Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme and Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, which support large and small scale capital development in rural areas, continue to be rolled out and all place a particular emphasis on supporting a post-COVID recovery.

In respect of the Department’s other programmes, funding commitments are being maintained, and though delays may be experienced in delivery for a period of time it is expected that all projects and initiatives will continue when safe to do so.

My Department also funds the COVID-19 Community Outreach (CCO) programme. Coordinated by the Wheel and Irish Rural Link the programme links and supports the work of thousands of community groups across Ireland who are responding to meet the needs of communities during the COVID-19 crisis.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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921. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the supports she can offer a company (details supplied) to navigate over this period coming out of Covid-19. [23422/20]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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The Government is aware of the challenges facing community and voluntary organisations and is committed to working closely with the sector in managing through these, recognising that it will require a whole of Government approach.

The Community and Voluntary Sector Covid-19 Stability Fund was intended to be a targeted once-off cash injection for organisations and groups currently delivering critical front-line services to the most at need in our society and in danger of imminent closure due to lost fund-raised or traded income as a direct result of restrictions to counter the spread of COVID-19.

This fund will provide up to €35million of funding through the Dormant Accounts Fund (DAF) and the criteria align with DAF objectives to support:

1. The personal and social development of persons who are economically or socially disadvantaged; or

2. The educational development of persons who are educationally disadvantaged; or

3. Persons with a disability.

1,060 applications were received and were assessed and prioritised on the basis of need.

The primary aim of the COVID 19 Stability Fund was to assist eligible community and voluntary, charity and social enterprises who are experiencing financial difficulties due to a reduction in their fundraising income and / or traded income as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The criteria of the scheme stated that any grants awarded would be dependent on the need identified and organisations approved for funding were prioritised on that basis. In this context it was considered that organisations that receive 80%, or more, of their funding from State sources are considered to have had a significant and stable source of income over the period under consideration, as the State has continued to provide that funding.

On the basis of the information provided by the organisation in question as part of their application, that organisation is in receipt of more than 80% of its funding from State sources and, accordingly, was not approved for funding under the COVID19 Stability Scheme.

I understand that some organisations may be disappointed with the outcome, or may have additional or updated information they may wish to have reviewed. For that reason, there is a Stability Scheme Appeals Process and all organisations, including the one in question, were offered leave to appeal their funding decision.

The Community Services Programme (CSP), funded through my Department and administered by Pobal, currently supports over 400 community organisations, including the organisation in question, to provide local services through a social enterprise model with funding provided as a contribution to the cost of an agreed number of full-time equivalent positions (FTEs) (€19,033 per annum) and a manager (€32,000 per annum), where warranted.

The organisation in question has been allocated funding of €110,563 in 2020 towards the cost of a manager and four FTEs. My Department has also put in place a CSP Support Fund for 2020 which provided additional funding to many of the CSP supported organisations where required and the organisation in question was successful in receiving additional funding of €2,431 through this Support Fund.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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922. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development when further tranches of the stability fund will be released; and if community radio stations will be able to seek funding under the scheme. [23505/20]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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The Government is aware of the challenges facing community and voluntary organisations and is committed to working closely with the sector in managing through these, recognising that it will require a whole of Government approach.

The Community and Voluntary Sector Covid-19 Stability Fund was intended to be a targeted once-off cash injection for organisations and groups delivering critical front-line services to the most at need in our society and in danger of imminent closure due to lost fund-raised or traded income as a direct result of restrictions to counter the spread of COVID-19.

This fund is providing up to €35million of funding through the Dormant Accounts Fund (DAF) and the scheme criteria aligned with DAF objectives to support:

1. The personal and social development of persons who are economically or socially disadvantaged; or

2. The educational development of persons who are educationally disadvantaged; or

3. Persons with a disability.

Over 1000 applications were received during the application period. Due to the considerable interest in the Stability Scheme and to facilitate prompt drawdown, applications were assessed in batches and funding has been released in tranches. To date three tranches have been announced, supporting more than 480 organisations with funding of over €25 million, which included the funding of 12 community radio stations. This funding is supporting the delivery of many critical frontline services in every part of the country.

A full list of successful applicants can be found at the link below. Additional checks continue on a small number of organisations and a further announcement will be made shortly.

Community Radio Stations were eligible to apply under Phase One of the Stability Scheme which closed for applications on the 21st of May 2020. I have no plans to reopen the scheme to new applicants at this time.