Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1053. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the grants and funding available from the community section of her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12584/21]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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My Department has been allocated €341 million in the 2021 Revised Estimates, this ensures that we are in a position to further assist communities seeking funding and other supports for important local activities and projects. The Department of Rural and Community Development community grants and funding programmes include:

- The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme, or SICAP, is our country’s primary social inclusion intervention. The current programme began on 1 January 2018 and will run until the end of 2022. SICAP aims to reduce poverty and promote social inclusion and equality. It does this through Programme Implementers, agencies and companies, who work with the most disadvantaged and the hardest to reach in communities. It is a national programme delivered with funding of €190 million over a five-year period from 2018 to 2022. SICAP is overseen by the Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) in each local authority area. Each LCDC agrees annual targets for its area based on local needs. My Department has engaged Pobal to work on its behalf to manage and oversee the reporting of SICAP nationally. SICAP supports a range of groups in society which are disadvantaged and marginalized.

- The Community Services Programme (CSP) currently supports 420 community organisations to provide local social, economic and environmental services through a social enterprise model. CSP funding is provided as a contribution towards the cost of employing staff in these organisations. It meets local service gaps and provides services and facilities that would not be available otherwise. Some €49million is available to support community organisations under the programme in 2021.

- The €4.5 million Community Enhancement Programme aims to streamline funding to communities in need. The programme is administered by Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) in each Local Authority area. Its mission is to provide funding to improve facilities available to communities. The funding is allocated to each Local Authority area by a methodology that reflects deprivation levels in each area. This uses the Pobal-Hasse deprivation index.

- €6.5 million is provided by my Department towards the regeneration of Dublin’s North East Inner City (NEIC) to support the implementation of the Mulvey Report “Creating a Brighter Future” and the NEIC Strategic Plan 2020-2022.

- Community and Voluntary Pillar funding (€565,000): My Department also provides annual funding to members of the Community and Voluntary Pillar to support costs, not funded from any other sources, directly related to the organisations ’contribution to policy-making.

- My Department’s Scheme to Support National Organisations (SSNO) provides multi-annual funding towards core costs of national, community and voluntary organisations that demonstrate good governance and deliver services and supports that have a focus on one or more of the following: addressing poverty, social exclusion and promoting equality. The current scheme commenced on 1 July 2019 and will cease on 30 June 2022. The application process for the current scheme is now closed.

- My Department has responsibility for administration of the Dormant Accounts Fund, including approving the measures to be funded from the Fund which are delivered across a range of Government departments.

- The Seniors Alert Scheme encourages community support for vulnerable older people in our communities, through the provision of personal monitored alarms to enable them to live securely in their homes with confidence, independence and peace of mind. Funding is available under the scheme towards the purchase by a registered community-based organisation of a personal alarm or pendant and is administered on the Department’s behalf by Pobal.

- Up to €75,700 is provided annually by my Department in respect of each Public Participation Network (PPN).

- My Department provides funding to supplement investment by local authorities in their library services. Funding is provided, for example, as a contribution towards the cost of developing library buildings, technological capacity and resources, book-stock and other areas of activity that enhance local library services. Responsibility for the delivery of public library services is generally a matter for each local authority in its capacity as a library authority under the Local Government Act 2001.

- My Department makes an annual payment to Local Authorities towards the cost of additional staff to support the community function in local authorities. It is expected that these posts will continue to support the Local Community Development Committee arrangements and the implementation of Local Economic and Community Plans in particular.

An additional €10million has been allocated to the Stability Fund as part of the revised Resilience and Recovery plan announced in February by the Taoiseach. Further details on how relevant organisations can apply for this funding will be available shortly. 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 €5.5m CLÁR programme provides funding for small-scale infrastructural projects in rural areas. While not delivered by the Community Division, CLÁR aims to support sustainable development of designated areas which have experienced significant levels of depopulation. The funding works in conjunction with local funding and on the basis of locally identified priorities. The scheme is delivered mainly by local authorities in consultation with groups in local communities, with applications for some measures submitted directly to the Department.

- Further details relating to eligibility criteria and to making applications for funding are available on gov.ie.