Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 November 2014
507. Deputy Michael McCarthy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the grants available to a community organisation (details supplied) in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43100/14]
View answerThe Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 has provided significant financial resources to rural communities all over Ireland. Along with the direct support for economic activity in rural areas, the Programme has increasingly provided support for community activity which ensures the maintenance of vibrant communities that are a critical component of a healthy rural economy.
Funding under the LEADER elements of the 2007-2013 Programme is now fully committed. However, I expect that the LEADER element of the 2014-2020 Rural Development Programme will commence during 2015 and there will be potential to fund community projects where they are identified as a priority in the Local Development Strategy for the area.
My Department supports the Community and Voluntary Sector in its contribution to an active, democratic and pluralist society. There is a particular focus on supporting communities that are vulnerable, disadvantaged or under threat through a suite of schemes. A community organisation may qualify for inclusion under one or more of these schemes, should it meet the terms and conditions of a particular scheme managed by my Department.
Pobal, a not-for-profit organisation, manages a significant proportion of this funding on behalf of my Department under both the Local and Community Development Programme (LCDP) and Dormant Accounts Measures.
In addition, my Department also provides funding directly to a number of other organisations under the LCDP. The LCDP is one of my Department’s main social inclusion programmes, aimed at tackling poverty and social exclusion in disadvantaged communities. It is a key tool of Government in providing employment supports, training, personal development/capacity building and other supports for the harder to reach in the most disadvantaged areas in society. There are 50 Local Development Companies (LDCs) contracted through Pobal on my Department’s behalf to deliver the LCDP, with 35 of those also delivering the LEADER elements of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 (RDP) throughout the country. The current LCDP 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 my key priorities. The Programme’s target groups are:
- Children and Families from Disadvantaged Areas;
- Lone Parents;
- New Communities (including Refugees/Asylum Seekers);
- People living in Disadvantaged Communities;
- People with Disabilities;
- Roma;
- The Unemployed (including those not on the Live Register);
- Travellers;
- Young Unemployed People from Disadvantaged areas.
In accordance with the Public Spending Code, legal advice, good practice internationally and in order to ensure the optimum delivery of services to clients, the Programme is subject to a public procurement process, which is currently underway. Stage one (Expression of Interest) has been completed. Stage two (Invitation to Tender), got underway on 20 October and involves the successful applicants from Stage one being invited to apply to one or more Local Community Development Committees, in Local Authority areas, to deliver the programme. Contracts for SICAP will be determined following the outcome of the procurement process.
The procurement process for SICAP is open to Local Development Companies, other not-for-profit community groups, commercial firms and national organisations that can provide the services to be tendered for to deliver the new Programme.
In addition, the Seniors Alert Scheme is a community-based initiative that promotes independent living for older people in their own homes. The Scheme is administered by more than 900 local community and voluntary groups, full details of which are available at http://www.environ.ie/en/Community/SeniorsAlert.
