Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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860. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of an application to the community recognition fund for a group (details supplied). [36181/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Community Recognition Fund was first introduced in 2023 to recognise the huge efforts made by communities in welcoming and supporting people coming to Ireland. Through the 2023 allocation, funding of €50 million was approved for some 900 projects. I was delighted to announce a further €50 million in funding under the Community Recognition Fund on March 15th last.

Applications under the current round of funding can be submitted by local authorities across three phases, so as to allow flexibility and adequate engagement and collaboration at a local level. The closing date for receipt of applications under phase 1 was May 31st last, with the subsequent phases closing on September 30th, 2024 and January 31st, 2025.

Under this new round of funding, Westmeath has been awarded funding of €1,740,646 which brings the total funding provided to Westmeath County Council under the Community Recognition Fund to over €3.3 million.

Local authorities are required to engage and collaborate with communities to identify the most appropriate projects for support. It is a matter for each local authority to identify the most appropriate locations for funding based on their analysis of the level of arrivals in each location and in the context of previous funding supports and local needs.

I understand that Westmeath County Council received an application from the group referred to by the Deputy and this application is currently being reviewed by them as part of their evaluation of projects under phase 2.

It will then determine which applications to propose to my Department for further consideration. It is expected that the successful projects under phase 2 will be announced before the end of the year.