My Department advertised the scheme of community support for older people in April of this year, which is more than three months in advance of the previous year's scheme.
I have approved the first tranche of funding to some one hundred applicant groups earlier this month, which has enabled earlier payments than in previous years. Assessment of the remaining applications is in progress and further approvals and payments will be notified to eligible applicant groups over the coming weeks.
Groups are required to account for expenditure of previous grants before they can qualify for a further grant under the scheme. Having regard to this requirement, I intend to progressively advertise the scheme earlier each year over the coming years.