Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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630. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the plans in place to increase individual payments to Pobal participants on CSP schemes, particularly given the forthcoming increase in the minimum wage and the announced increases in the CE top-up; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56167/22]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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631. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if an extra payment will be made to CSP sponsors to fund an increase in the amount paid to CSP participants; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56168/22]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 630 and 631 together.

My department's Community Services Programme (CSP) supports over 430 community-based organisations, to provide local services through a social enterprise model.

CSP funding is provided as a fixed annual contribution towards the cost of supporting an agreed number of full-time equivalent (FTE) positions including a manager, where warranted, with funding of €32,000 per annum provided towards the costs for the manager position and €19,033 per annum towards each FTE position.

The CSP contribution is not aligned with the minimum wage and does not meet the full salary cost of supported posts. It is a fixed annual contribution that must be co-funded by the organisations concerned from other sources, for example, from income generated from the use of facilities and services provided.

My department and Pobal have been working on the restructuring of the CSP, since the publication of the report on the independent review of the CSP in 2020 by Indecon International Economic Consultants.

As part of the restructuring process, a needs-based funding rate allocation model was designed for the CSP programme, as an alternative to the current flat rate payment model. The funding model was dependent on securing additional funding during the budgetary process.I am pleased to advise that we have secured an additional €3.5m for the CSP in 2023. CSP organisations that are operating in areas of high disadvantage, employing individuals from the prescribed programme target groups and having limited earning potential will benefit from the high funding rate category.

The revised funding rates to apply from January 2023 under the restructured programme were announced on 20 October. A total increase of €4,000 for both full time positions and managers is being provided for those organisations in the high funding category, with €2,000 per full-time position and manager being provided to those in the medium funding category. No change is proposed for the small number of organisations in the low funding category, these are organisations identified with the strongest earning potential and operating in less disadvantaged areas.

It is anticipated that the transitioning of organisations into the redesigned programme will occur in January 2023. The online application process closed on 14^th October. The applications are currently being appraised by Pobal who administer the programme on behalf of my department and organisations will be notified of their funding allocations in December.

The staff in organisations supported by CSP, are not in a labour activation programme like the Community Employment Scheme (CE), which generally lasts 1 year, but can be extended by up to 2 years to complete a major education award. Scheme participants such as those on CE may also benefit from additional payments made to social welfare recipients including the Christmas Bonus and the most recent Cost of Living Support Payment, whereas the CSP contribution is a fixed annual contribution towards the cost of supporting staff.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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632. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will re-examine the electoral divisions in the Clondalkin electoral area that are included in the LEADER programme in preparation for the new programme commencing in January 2023 in order to ensure that the full catchment of the rural areas of Baldonnel and Newcastle are included in the programme, with particular consideration for the ED that includes Newlands farm, which will soon be home to a vibrant local sports club; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56307/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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LEADER is a key programme within Our Rural Future, and as I announced recently the Expression of Interest stage to select the Groups to deliver the next LEADER programme is now open.

The aim of the LEADER programme is to provide supports for the development of Ireland’s rural areas focusing on the areas of most need. The programme is delivered in 28 sub-regional areas across the country which are for the most part aligned to the county boundaries. The exceptions to this are in County Cork which contains three sub-regional areas and in County Dublin. While the three administrative areas of County Dublin are largely comprised of urban areas there are rural communities in each area. These rural areas are combined to form one sub-regional area of Dublin Rural.

The Newcastle Electoral Division forms part of the Dublin Rural sub-regional area and includes the areas of Baldonnel Upper and Newlands Farm referred to by the Deputy. This area is currently covered by the Dublin Rural Local Development Strategy. It is envisaged that this coverage will be maintained in the upcoming programme.

I look forward to seeing the new programme being implemented and to ensuring that LEADER can continue to deliver real benefits to rural communities across Ireland.

I expect the new Local Action Groups to be operational and supporting project promoters in the second half of 2023 and I would encourage any group interested in applying for LEADER funding to contact their Local Action Group once the selection process has concluded to discuss their project proposal.