Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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1329. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the steps he proposes to guarantee unimpeded rights of access to local authority-owned graveyards (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44141/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department has legislative responsibility for burial grounds, however the actual operation of burial grounds (graveyards) is the responsibility of the local authorities.

Under the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Acts, 1878 to 2001, local authorities are deemed to be burial boards for their respective functional areas. Acting in their capacity as burial boards, local authorities are responsible for the management, regulation and control of burial grounds in their functional areas.

Local authorities also have powers to make bye-laws in relation to burial grounds.

Accordingly, my Department has no role in relation to this matter.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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1330. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if there are plans to increase the wage allowance to community organisations participating in the community services programme to reflect the increasing costs for participating organisations. [44177/24]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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My Department's Community Services Programme (CSP) currently supports over 430 community-based organisations, with a budget of €52.4m in 2024, to provide local services through a social enterprise model. CSP provides an annual co-funding contribution towards each full-time equivalent (FTE) position being supported and, where warranted, towards the cost of employing a manager.

The CSP contribution per FTE position is not aligned with the minimum wage and is not intended to meet the full salary cost of supported posts. It is an annual contribution that must be co-funded by the organisations concerned from other sources to address any funding gaps to meet, at a minimum, the national minimum wage rates that are applicable to their employees.

Notwithstanding the above, the new funding rate allocation model, which came into effect on 1^st of January 2023, was designed to support those organisations assessed as being most in need, providing a higher rate of funding to supported organisations identified as operating in areas of high disadvantage, employing individuals from the prescribed programme target groups and with evidence of limited earning potential. In addition to these revised allocations, a reduction in full-time hours from 39 to 37.5 hours was approved under the redesigned CSP programme, to narrow the co-funding gap for CSP supported employees even further.

I am aware of the increase in costs for CSP-supported organisations and my department is reviewing the current level of supports, with a view to providing additional supports in 2025, within the available budget.