Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

71. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the community services programme; if the programme adequately supports initiative and social enterprises in both urban and rural areas; the details of same specifically in relation to the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8530/22]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Department's Community Services Programme (CSP) supports over 420 community organisations nationwide in both rural and urban areas, to provide local services through a social enterprise model.

The CSP provides an annual co-funding contribution of €19,033 for each fulltime equivalent (FTE) position being supported, and, where warranted, provides €32,000 towards the cost of employing a manager.  

Qualifying organisations must be social enterprises capable of generating income from their activities in order to meet the full salary costs of the supported posts, for example, from income received from the public use of facilities and services. 

In 2020, an independent review of the CSP was undertaken by Indecon International Economic Consultants, on behalf of my Department.  The final report was published on 30 September 2020 accompanied by a high level action plan outlining the timeline for the phased implementation for the restructuring of the programme. My Department and Pobal, who administer the programme on behalf of my Department, are currently working on the restructuring of the Programme in conjunction with the CSP Consultative Group. 

Pending the transition to the new restructured programme, the scheme is closed to new applications.However, there are a number of organisations with plans currently under consideration and if approved, they will be supported under the programme during 2022. In addition, it is anticipated that the Programme will open calls to address identified gaps in service delivery later this year.  

My Department's CSP currently supports five organisations that provide supports/services in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area.  These received funding of almost €1.2m in 2021, supporting 8 managers and 44.5 FTE positions (set out in the table below for ease of reference), with contracts extended to 31 December 2022. 

Full details of all CSP supported organisations are available on Pobal's website.