Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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475. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of an application to the Covid stability fund (details supplied). [48749/21]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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The Government are aware of the challenges facing community and voluntary organisations and are committed to working closely with the sector in managing through these, recognising that it will require a whole of Government approach. To that end, Government and my Department introduced a number of supports to assist sectors in dealing with the impact of COVID-19 and social restrictions necessary in the interests of public health.

During 2020, the COVID-19 Stability Fund supported close to 600 organisations to continue to deliver vital services to the communities that depend on them.

An allocation of €10m was provided to the Stability Fund for 2021 as part of the revised Resilience and Recovery plan announced on Tuesday 23rd February by the Taoiseach. The COVID-19 Stability Fund 2021 was launched on Thursday 6th May, and was targeted at organisations which deliver eligible critical services to vulnerable people within their community but which faced closure or a loss of service due to the impact of the pandemic. The Fund was open for application from May 20th - 27th. The Stability Fund is administered by Pobal on behalf of my Department.

I was pleased to announce tranche one of funding under the 2021 Fund to 180 successful applicants on 9th July 2021, allocating close to €4.5m in funding, with tranche two announced on 1st October allocating just over €2m in funding to 65 organisations. All allocations are published on the Gov.ie website.

Outcomes have now been issued to all applicants, including the organisation in question. Eligibility to apply or submission of an application was no guarantee of funding. Unsuccessful applicants have been provided with information on the appeals process. The appeals panel will consider information provided by the applicant within the context of the published scheme criteria.

In general, I would encourage all organisations to continue to engage with their Local Authority and Local Development Company, and to check on the Gov.ie website in order to be aware of funding opportunities relevant to their sector and services, as they become available.