Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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3447. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the last occasion on which a Department-wide review of all funding within her Department took place; the frequency of such reviews; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40642/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department was allocated €351 million in 2021 to support our rural development and community development programmes and schemes, such as the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, the Community Services Programme (CSP), and the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP). As part of the estimates process each year, expenditure across all programmes and schemes are reviewed, and priorities for the coming year identified. Furthermore, this year the Department completed an in-depth analysis of capital expenditure requirements for the coming years, in the context of the review of the National Development Plan.

In addition to the above reviews and analysis that take place in the context of the budgetary cycle, my Department also completes a range of evaluation work on an ongoing basis. A Quality Assurance Process Report was published by my Department in December 2020. This reflects an assessment of Department compliance with the Public Spending Code based on an examination of Department expenditure. My Department also undertakes periodic reviews and evaluations of particular areas of expenditure such as programmes and schemes managed by the Department. This may be completed in-house or commissioned externally. Among others, a review of the Community Services Programme, and an evaluation of SICAP pre-employment supports were published in 2020. My Department has also entered into a research agreement with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) to help inform rural and community development policy. The first output produced under this agreement, A Review of International Approaches to Evaluating Rural and Community Development Investment and Supports, was published in April 2021. These reviews and evaluations are available on my Department’s website at www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/9dc2f-research-and-evaluation/