I am aware of the closure of this organisation following correspondence submitted to my Department. For over 20 years, my Department has provided funding to this community-based drug rehabilitation project. The grant allocation is approved on an annual basis, following an application from the organisation annually, with the conditions of funding set out in the annual allocation letter. These conditions include the funding being subject to full compliance with the provisions of Circular 13/2014. A grant of €148,820 was approved by my Department for 2020 to assist in the day-to-day expenses of this organisation. This grant had increased from just under €139,000 in 2015 to nearly €144,000 in 2016, and has been at its present level since 2017.
In late 2019, the Department began a review of funding of this organisation, as part of a review of a number of other grants provided to organisations providing similar or related services. A similar previous review was conducted in 2011. It was intended that the review would have been completed by the end of Quarter 1, 2020. However, owing substantially to COVID-19 restrictions this has not been possible. As the review was not complete, no recommendations have been made on the grant funding for any of organisations that were included in the review. The organisation referenced by the Deputy was advised that it could apply for annual funding for 2021. The organisation notified my Department in August 2020 of its intention to close its services at year end 2020 and there was engagement following this notification between my officials and the organisation's staff to ensure continuity of provision to year end.
It is understood that the organisation worked with service users following its decision to close to identify alternative service provision for the project's clients.
