Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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324. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the funding programmes within her Department which are due to reopen for applications following announcements made through Budget 2022; if she will provide details of an appropriate funding stream for organisations (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51338/21]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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The increased funding allocated to the Department under Budget 2022 will allow it to continue to support communities across Ireland as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Community Enhancement Programmeis the funding programme within my Department that is most relevant to the bridge club referenced by the Deputy. It provides small grants to community groups to enhance facilities in disadvantaged areas.  Funding is provided to each Local Authority area, and administered by Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs).  In May this year I launched the 2021 CEP with an allocation of €4.5m.  The key theme was to support groups as they reopen facilities which were closed due to COVID-19.  The 2021 CEP is now closed, but it will re-open in due course and further information will be available from the LCDC in each area.

The following two schemes were also specifically referenced by the Deputy. 

The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programmeprovides funding to Local Development Companies across Ireland so that they can work with marginalised individuals and the groups that represent them. This programme has secured a 10% or €4m budget increase in 2022, and the current iteration covers the period from 2018 to the end of 2023.

The 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 three year scheme commenced on 1st July 2019 and will cease on 30th June 2022. A total of €18.8 million has been allocated under the current scheme to a total of 74 organisations. It is expected that a new iteration of the scheme will commence in July 2022, further to an application process commencing in December 2021. Funding for the Scheme to Support National Organisations (SSNO Scheme) will increase from €5.9 million to €6.7 million in 2022.

My Department also has many other schemes, the details of which are available on my Department’s website. I would also encourage interested parties, such as the bridge club referenced by the Deputy, to stay in touch with the Local Development Company and Local Authority in their area, so that they are aware of grant schemes from across Government Departments and state agencies, as they become available.