Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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66. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of applications received per year 2023-2024 and per county for funding under the Community Recognition Fund; the number that were successful and unsuccessful, respectively, in each county; the allocation that will be provided to each county in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68520/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Community Recognition Fund (CRF) was first introduced in 2023 to recognise the huge efforts made by communities in welcoming and supporting people coming to Ireland. Under the fund a total of €100 million has been provided to local authorities to support cities, towns and villages nationwide.

Under the initial €50 million allocation in 2023, some 908 projects were approved. All projects submitted to my Department by local authorities were successful in receiving funding

Under the CRF 2024, projects were approved over three phases across 2024 and 2025. In total 569 projects have been approved under CRF 2024, while 15 applications submitted by local authorities to my Department for approval were not allocated funding. It should be noted that each local authority had a set financial allocation and were given the opportunity to replace unsuccessful applications with alternative projects in order to utilise their full allocation.

The emphasis is now to ensure that all projects are delivered in the coming months so that communities can benefit from this investment.

While there was no additional allocation in 2025 under CRF, my Department continues to support the development of community infrastructure through it range of investment programmes.

The attached table sets out the number of applications that were successful and unsuccessful under both iterations of the fund in each county.

Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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67. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the measures being taken to ensure the long-term sustainability of organisations supported under the Community Services Programme, in light of increased funding allocations in Budget 2025 and Budget 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68389/25]

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government's five-year strategy, Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities, which has been extended to the end of this year, aims to support the community and voluntary sector.

The CSP Programme currently supports 426 community-based organisations, with a budget of €55.4m allocated for 2025, to provide 446 local services nationwide, through a social enterprise model. A new funding model was introduced for the CSP Programme in 2023 to better align the funding provided with the funding needs of organisations, based on objective criteria.

Considering the need for long-term sustainability, five-year multi-annual funding contracts were issued to over 420 organisations funded under the Community Services Programme (CSP) from 2023 to 2027.

The CSP contribution is not aligned to the minimum wage and is not intended to meet the full employment cost of supported posts. The contribution must be co-funded by other sources, for example, from income received from the public for the use of their facilities and services. While my Department has no operational role in relation to setting wage rates in CSP-supported organisations, increased funding has been provided over the past three years to the majority of CSP-funded organisations, to support increases in the costs of employment, within the CSP funding model.

Following the budget process, a provision of €59.4 has been allocated to the CSP Programme for 2026. The Programme for Government contains a commitment to hold an open call for organisations to join the CSP Programme. The scope to hold an open call is currently being reviewed, in the context of relevant considerations such as the funding needs of existing CSP-supported organisations, organisations waitlisted from the previous call and those who wish to join the Programme. The outcome of these considerations is anticipated in the coming weeks.