Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 November 2014
993. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the position regarding stage two of the social inclusion and community activation programme; his views on the revised plan to implement the programme; if he will provide a timeframe for continuation of this programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41090/14]
View answerMy Department’s Local and Community Development Programme (LCDP) is the largest social inclusion intervention of its kind in the State. The current Programme officially ended at the end of 2013 having operated for four years with funding of €281m over that period. It is being implemented on a transitional basis for 2014 with a budget of €47m pending the roll out of the new Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) in April 2015.
The SICAP is one of the key priorities of Government and its overall indicative budget for 2015 has been maintained close to 2014 levels.
In accordance with the Public Spending Code, legal advice, good practice internationally and in order to ensure the optimum delivery of services to clients, SICAP is subject to a public procurement process, which is currently underway. Stage one (Expression of Interest) has been completed. Stage two (Invitation to Tender), commenced on 20 October 2014 and involves the successful applicants from Stage one being invited to apply to one or more Local Community Development Committees, in l ocal a uthority areas, to deliver the programme. Contracts for SICAP will be determined following the outcome of the procurement process. The envisaged timeframe for SICAP is set out in the table below.
Invitation to Tender: Indicative timeframes
|
Issue of Invitation to Tender to Tenderers by each LCDC |
20 October 2014 |
|
Closing date for receipt of queries to sicap@pobal.ie |
9 December 2014 at 12 noon |
|
Closing date for receipt of tenders |
19 December 2014 at 12 noon |
|
Tenderers informed of the outcome of their tender |
Week of 9 February 2015 |
|
Contracts issued by LCDCs to the selected Local Programme Implementer |
Mid-February 2015 |
|
Completion of signed contracts by each Local Programme Implementer |
Early March 2015 |
|
Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme commences |
1 April 2015 |
