Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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122. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development his plans to address the need to resource and future-proof the public participation network by ensuring adequate core funding and staff resourcing to meet their workload. [14513/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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A Public Participation Network (PPN) provides representation for the community sector in Local Authority policymaking structures, giving local volunteers a greater say in local government decisions which affect their own communities.

PPNs were established following the enactment of the Local Government Reform Act 2014. There are now 31 PPNs across the country, feeding into local policies and strategies and providing peer networks and connections between local community organisations. As their membership numbers have grown, the activities of PPNs have evolved and the expectations of them have also changed.

The core funding provided by my Department for PPNs has also grown over the years:

- Between 2015 and 2018, PPNs could claim up to €50,000 each.

- In 2019, that increased by €25,700 to €75,700.

- In 2023, there was a further funding increase of €10,000 per PPN to €85,700. That increase was maintained in Budget 2024.

- In 2025, another additional increase in core funding has been allocated to each PPN, bringing the total funding from my Department to €100,540, more than double the original allocation of 2015.

It should be noted that Local Authorities also contribute a minimum of €35,000 for their PPN each year.

In addition to funding increases, and to better understand the impact of the growth of PPNs, my Department recently undertook a comprehensive review of PPN structures. The report on this structural review was published in 2022. It highlighted the PPNs’ many achievements to date and also identified opportunities to further support their long-term sustainability.

A Working Group was established to develop and implement a Roadmap of future actions for PPNs. Its members come from a range of PPN stakeholder groups, including PPN staff and volunteers, civil society groups, local authorities and relevant government departments. The recommendations from the structural review, with additional actions identified by the sector, are included in a new PPN Roadmap published last year. The Working Group has remained in place to progress its implementation.

Among the 38 Roadmap actions agreed by the Working Group, two relate specifically to core funding. The remaining 36 actions are concerned with governance, communications, co-ordination, and training and support needs of volunteers and staff.

I remain committed to supporting PPNs so that communities across Ireland can continue to participate in local decision making processes.