Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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1970. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development to list the unsuccessful applications for funding under phase 1 and phase 2 of the Community Centre Investment Fund (details supplied), in tabular form; and the supports available for these organisations to reapply or seek alternative funding. [12410/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Last week I was delighted to announce over €26 million in funding for 369 community centres under Category 2 of the Community Centre Investment Fund 2024. Funding of up to €100,000 will be provided to each successful community centre to support vital refurbishment and enhancement works. The projects include building renovations, enhanced amenities, accessibility measures and energy upgrades to help build the resilience of the local communities.

This follows on from funding of just over €7.6 million that was approved In November for almost 400 community centres under category 1 of the fund. Category 1 refers to projects seeking funding of up to €25,000.

Given the significant demand for the scheme, I was pleased to be able to ensure that over €33 million has now been approved for in excess of 770 projects nationwide. In total, over 70% of applications received have been offered funding.

At the same time, I know that there will be disappointed groups who have not received funding. For those applicants with eligible projects that didn’t score high enough to be funded, I would encourage them to seek feedback on their application so that it can be strengthened for any future applications under this scheme. There is an appeals process in place, and all unsuccessful applicants will receive written notification including details of this process shortly.

In general, my Department does not publish details on an individualised basis in relation to unsuccessful applicants under our range of schemes. However, the following table sets out information on the number of unsuccessful applications under both categories in each county together with the value of funding sought for applicants that were not offered funding at this time.

I am committed to delivering further iterations of the scheme in the coming years in line with the commitment in the Programme for Government for this to become a permanent rolling fund.

In addition all unsuccessful groups may wish to explore other potential funding options supported by my Department, including the LEADER programme, the Town and Village Renewal Scheme and the CLÁR programme. LEADER is currently open for applications through LEADER Local Action Groups around the country and I expect to announce new rounds of CLÁR and the Town and Village Renewal Scheme shortly. Details of these and other schemes are available on my Department’s website.