Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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380. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the specific funding streams available to local authorities to apply for; the amount that has been given by county; the amount awarded under each scheme in each of the years 2018 to 2020 and to date in 2021, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4056/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department is responsible for two votes - Vote 28 (Foreign Affairs) and Vote 27 (International Cooperation) and administers a number of funding schemes under both votes. This includes, under Vote 28 (Foreign Affairs), funding for Diaspora projects, funding for certain projects under the communications budget and the Department’s Reconciliation Fund. Details of funding allocated to local authorities for the years 2018, 2019, 2020 and to date in 2021 are set out in the table below. No funding was provided under Vote 27 (International Cooperation) to local authorities during this period.

In the area of Diaspora support, in 2018 my Department funded the 2018 Global Irish Festival Series, a Diaspora-focused tourism programme delivered by local authorities, in conjunction with Fáilte Ireland. This provided support of €100,000 to Limerick County Council and €60,000 to Donegal County Council, as well as €40,000 in marketing for the events and €10,000 for training and evaluation of the programme. A second series was envisaged for 2020-2021, with a two year funding programme, to provide funding for a planning and development phase in year 1 and operational costs for delivery in year 2. Due to the impact of COVID-19, this was postponed for 12 months. Agreements to support Mayo and Kerry Councils organise and host Diaspora tourism events were agreed last year. My Department will provide €100,000 over two years, with matching funding from Fáilte Ireland. The Councils will also contribute to the costs of the festival series. My Department plans to provide €40,000 for the planning and development phase this year and €60,000 for the operations and delivery phase in 2022.

The Department's Reconciliation Fund was established in 1982 to support civil society organisations in creating better understanding between the people and traditions of the island of Ireland, as well as between Ireland and Britain. Over €60 million has been allocated to approximately 2,800 projects during this time. Generally speaking, two funding rounds take place under this scheme annually. The first funding round of 2021 is due to be advertised in the coming weeks and details of funding criteria and how to apply will be available on my Department’s website at: www.dfa.ie/reconciliation. In the period since 2018, a small number of grants has been issued to support work by Local Authorities, in particular for project initiatives by county museums in the area of commemoration of events of the decade of centenaries.

Under the Department's communications budget, my Department has also supported a programme of events to celebrate Africa Day since 2006, including making grant funding available to local authorities to support the organisation of local authority- and community- led events around Ireland. In 2020, my Department engaged with local authorities on Africa Day, but no funding was awarded due to the cancellation of public events arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. No Africa Day funding has been awarded to local authorities in 2021 to date.