Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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655. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the level of funding to be provided by his Department in 2022 for the promotion and support of the social enterprise sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59930/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Department is making €1.5m in funding available for 2022 under the Rural Innovation and Development Fund (RIDF) to finance current expenditure on approved projects in rural areas. The following is a summary of the activities to be supported in 2022.

Female Rural Entrepreneurs

An allocation of €244,000 is being provided for this initiative in 2022. The funding will allow for the extension of the “ACORNS” programme which involves the development and implementation of a tailored programme targeted at nascent entrepreneurial women living in rural areas to address the specific challenges which face female entrepreneurs generally as well as the barriers which can limit entrepreneurial activity in rural areas.

Social Farming

An allocation of €777,000 is being provided for Social Farming in 2022 under the RIDF. Funding is being provided to continue the development of the national Social Farming Network. In addition, funding will be provided to allow for the extension of four social farming model projects. Social farming involvesoffering on a voluntary basis, farming and horticultural participation in a farming environment as a choice to people who avail of a range of therapeutic day support services.

Food Waste Reduction

An allocation of €180,000 will be provided towards this initiative toprovide funding for the promotion and/or development of innovative food waste reduction projects which are designed to reduce food waste generated by food businesses, retailer/wholesalers, manufacturers or suppliers in rural areas. A Call for Proposals inviting applications will issue in early 2022 and will be open to all organisations. The maximum amount payable to any project will be €60,000.

Agri-Food Tourism

An allocation of €299,000 will be provided for the promotion and development of innovative agri-food tourism projects in 2022. A Call for Proposals inviting applications will issue in January 2022 and will be open to all organisations. The maximum amount payable to any project will be €25,000.