Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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417. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the degree to which she expects to continue to support community investment throughout County Kildare in 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62984/22]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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427. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the extent to which she expects to be in position to offer grant assistance to appropriately-qualified groups throughout County Kildare in 2023, with particular reference to the community and voluntary sectors; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62994/22]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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430. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the extent to which her Department has identified specific local initiatives in County Kildare worthy of support by her Department since its inception; her ongoing proposals in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62997/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 417, 427 and 430 together.

My Department continues to play a critical role in supporting communities across the country in both rural and urban Ireland, including in County Kildare. The mission of my Department is to promote rural and community development and to support vibrant, inclusive and sustainable communities throughout Ireland. This mission is set out in our Statement of Strategy 2021 to 2023.

Local community groups and organisations in Kildare have been supported since the establishment of my Department and will continue to be able to access supports next year. Schemes such as the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, the Local Improvement Scheme, LEADER, the Community Centre Investment Fund, the Community Services Programme and Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme will all ensure that the communities in Kildare will continue to be supported. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that to date in 2022, County Kildare has been allocated more than €8 million in supports from my Department.

Substantial progress has been made since 2020, in delivering programmes and policy interventions efficiently and effectively for rural Ireland and communities. This has ensured that our existing supports and funding is directed to best support communities. This will continue into 2023.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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418. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the extent to which she and her Department continue to have dialogue with urban or rural-based groups, with a view to identifying deprivation or concerns which may need her intervention; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62985/22]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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The mission of the Department of Rural and Community Development is to support vibrant, inclusive and sustainable communities throughout Ireland. The Department is in ongoing contact with local and community groups through the local structures such as Public Participation Network (PPN). The focus of the PPN is to empower and assist groups to participate in local decision making. This facilitates a two-way flow of information between the Local Authority and community groups. The Department also remains in close and constant contact with bodies that represent the local development and community and voluntary sectors.

My Department has a number of programmes that focus on improving the lives of people experiencing disadvantage, for example the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme, SICAP. This is our country’s primary social inclusion programme, providing funding to tackle poverty and social exclusion at a local level through local engagement and partnerships between disadvantaged individuals, community organisations and public sector agencies. It is delivered in both rural and urban areas by Local Development Companies (LDCs) who work with the most disadvantaged and the hardest to reach in communities.

The current iteration of SICAP began on 1 January 2018 and will run until the end of 2023. My officials have begun the process of developing a new iteration of SICAP which will begin in 2024 which includes an independent review of the current programme and stakeholder consultation to inform the next programme iteration.