Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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2017. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the projected size of the Dormant Accounts Fund for each of the next five years. [30192/22]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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At the end of April 2022 the total value of the Dormant Accounts Fund was €280.2 million. The National Treasury Management Agency sets aside part of this to maintain a reserve account for future repayments to account holders or their rightful heirs. This reserve fund currently stands at €108.4 million, leaving a total of €171.8 million available for future disbursements through the Dormant Accounts Annual Action Plan process. There are approvals of €63 million currently in place through Annual Action Plans, including the 2022 Action Plan, and this funding will be drawn down from the €171.8 million available. The 2022 Dormant Accounts Action Plan approved measures worth €55.5 million, and based on the level of funding available within the Fund, a similar amount is expected to be approved for the 2023 Dormant Accounts Action Plan. Future disbursement levels depend on the inflows into the fund, which are difficult to predict. However, given very strong recent expenditure, it is expected that over time disbursement levels will need to gradually reduce to around €40 million per annum, which is a current average rate of net inflows into the fund. This will ensure a continued long term positive impact in terms of addressing disadvantage through the fund. It must also be noted that the use of Dormant Accounts Funds is subject to the constraints of any other voted expenditure and adds overall Government debt, meaning the future use of funds is also subject to these constraints.