Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 July 2018
495. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of progress towards completing the development of a national policy on social enterprise following the announcement in September 2017; the month and year that the policy will be completed and published; and the number of stakeholders that have been consulted to date. [29000/18]
View answerThe Action Plan for Rural Development includes a commitment to develop and publish a National Policy on Social Enterprise, which will encompass the full range of activity in the sector.
In July 2017, my Department established a research partnership with the Social Finance Foundation for the purpose of carrying out targeted research and stakeholder engagement with the social enterprise sector to inform the development of the National Policy.
To support this work a Steering Group was established, comprised of representatives of Government Departments, social enterprise practitioners and representatives of the sector, to oversee the conduct of the research. In addition, a comprehensive stakeholder consultation process took place, involving regional workshops and an extensive online survey of social enterprises, all conducted in late 2017. Well over 100 people, representing a diverse range of organisations and interests, attended the regional workshops, while 376 submissions were received as part of the online consultation. As part of the research, there were a significant number of bilateral meetings with key stakeholders and site visits to social enterprises.
The research outputs from this project are currently being finalised, and my Department has now begun the process of preparing the draft policy. My Department will undertake further consultation with relevant stakeholders in developing the policy.
I anticipate that the National Policy on Social Enterprise will be published in the Autumn following this further consultation process.
