Ryan O'Meara (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)
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2761. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the funding available for the startup of community cafes in rural areas; if funding is available for the purchase of a building for purposes of setting up a community café; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46286/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I recognise the significant benefit and impact that community cafés have in both urban and rural locations. I also recognise that, by their nature, many of these social enterprises need additional support.

Trading for Impact the National Social Enterprise Policy 2024-2027 is committed to helping cultivate strong and impactful social enterprises, including community cafés. This policy contains 57 policy measures to be delivered under 5 objectives, many of which provide support to the sector. Supports to community cafés form a part of the supports available more widely to social enterprises.

Since 2019 Dormant Accounts funding, targeted at social enterprises, has provided capital supports totalling €511,500 to 36 social enterprises that specifically supported the establishment or development of community cafés around the country.

Our Rural Future, Ireland’s national rural development policy, recognises the importance of functional community spaces that support a range of activities that bring added vibrancy to rural areas. This includes funding across a range of schemes within my department’s Rural Development Investment Programme for capital projects developing community facilities including community cafés. This includes the Town and Village Renewal Scheme and Community Centre Investment Fund.

The Programme for Government (PFG) 2025 – Securing Ireland’s Future commits to ‘work to support the development and retention of community-run shops and cafés’. The PFG also commits to ‘consider an annual Social Enterprise Empowerment and Development (SEED) Fund to unlock the potential of the social enterprise sector’ which includes community cafés. I will be seeking additional funding, through the annual Estimates process, to enable my Department to progress Trading for Impact policy actions, and to further support the social enterprise sector and the range of services they provide across our communities.

Details of all these schemes, together with the type of activities they support are available on my Department’s website.