Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 November 2015
1021. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the amount of dormant account moneys made available to the State since the inception of this fund; the breakdown of amounts disbursed to each Department; the names of each recipient organisation; the year of allocation; the amount of allocation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38169/15]
View answerUnder the Dormant Accounts legislation, balances on dormant accounts with banks, building societies and An Post and the net encashment value of certain life assurance policies are paid into the Dormant Accounts Fund, which is managed by the National Treasury Management Agency. The primary purpose of the legislation is to reunite the original account holders with their moneys, including all interest due. In addition, the legislation provides that disbursements from the fund may be made for charitable purposes or for purposes of community benefit. The National Treasury Management Agency is responsible, under sections 17 and 18 of the 2001 Act, for establishing, managing and controlling the Dormant Accounts Fund and making of disbursements in accordance with the direction of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. Details of disbursements from DAF are available at http://www.ntma.ie/publications.
Since its establishment in April 2003 to the end of 30 September 2015, the transfers to the Dormant Accounts Fund have totalled some €834.9 million, which includes interest earned of approximately €41.7 million. Funds reclaimed in that period by account holders amounted to around €309.7 million. €303.9 million of disbursements have been approved, with €256.12 million already expended by a large number of community groups and organisations under a range of measures administered by Pobal, on behalf of a number of Government Departments and agencies. Further data in relation to the Dormant Accounts Fund are available on my Department’s website at http://www.environ.ie/en/Community/DormantAccounts/.
A Dormant Accounts Fund Action Plan was adopted on 1 July 2014 which contained an allocation in excess of €26 million to be expended through a number of Government Departments and agencies. Under the 2014 Plan, Pobal are administering the Social Enterprise and the Disadvantaged Youth Employment Initiatives/Entrepreneurship measure. Pobal are also administering one measure on behalf of the Department of Social Protection and a number of measures on behalf of the Department of Health. The remaining measures under the 2014 Action Plan are being administered by the Departments themselves. Applications under these measures are currently being assessed by Pobal and it is planned that beneficiary organisations will be in receipt of funding before year end.
