Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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2687.To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the allocation of funding to Galway Rural Development for each of the current five years for the administration and running of the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme on the four inhabited off-shore islands of Galway; whether she considers this funding is adequate, or intends to review it; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32417/24]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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2688.To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the breakdown of the allocation of the funding of €64,000 allocated to the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme on the offshore islands of County Galway this year, broken down between staffing costs, travel, administration, outreach office rental, animation and direct project budgets, taking into account the extra cost of administering programmes on offshore islands; whether she considers this sufficient; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32418/24]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 2687 and 2688 together.

The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP), is our country’s primary social inclusion intervention. This is a national programme that is delivered in both rural and urban areas by Local Development Companies to help those in the greatest need. SICAP aims to address high and persistent levels of deprivation through targeted and innovative, locally-led approaches. The programme does vital work in helping individuals and groups, by improving the life chances of those who are marginalised in society, living in poverty or unemployed. SICAP has two overall programme goals - Goal One provides supports to community groups and Goal Two involves support for individuals.

Delivery of SICAP on the Galway Islands is overseen by Galway County Local Community Development Committee (LCDC), with Galway Rural Development CLG responsible for implementation from June 1st.

Funding of approximately €64,000 has been allocated through the LCDC for delivery of SICAP in 2024 on the Islands. Galway County LCDC recently concluded the procurement process for the new iteration of SICAP 2024+, following a number of extensions to that process, with implementation of the new programme commencing as of 1^stJune. As a result of the extensions, the allocation for Galway Islands was adjusted to take account of the later start date for delivery of SICAP 2024+. As such, the total allocation to Galway Islands for the remainder of 2024 is €41,718. A breakdown of expenditures is set out in the table below.

Regarding the query as to allocations for the Islands across the 5 years of the programme, the overall funding for SICAP is subject to the annual budgetary process. However, as part of the new programme requirements, funding must be ring-fenced for SICAP delivery on the islands for any Contract Areas with Islands as part of their geography.

The geographic distribution and allocation of resources for SICAP is based on two key considerations - historic funding patterns and the Pobal HP Deprivation Index. This method is known as the SICAP Resource Allocation Model.

The Pobal HP Deprivation Index measures the relative affluence or disadvantage of a particular geographical area using data compiled from various censuses. The index is a key resource to enable a targeted approach towards tackling disadvantage, by providing local analysis of the most disadvantaged areas throughout the state.

My Department is satisfied that the current application of the SICAP Resource Allocation Model is a fair and equitable approach to allocating available funds to each area.