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Tuesday, 11 May 2021

Written Answers Nos. 1017-1020

Departmental Funding

Questions (1017)

Matt Carthy

Question:

1017. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the funding allocated by her Department or agencies under her remit to An Taisce in each of the years 2015 to 2020 and to date in 2021; the expected respective allocations to An Taisce for 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24110/21]

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Written answers

The Green Flag Award is an international benchmarking standard for parks and green spaces. An Taisce, manage the Award in the Republic of Ireland. The co-ordination of the Green Flag Community Award Scheme in Ireland is made possible by the support of my Department. The Green Flag Community Award extends the Scheme to include community initiatives such as Community Gardens, Community Parks, and Tidy Towns Projects.

The extension of the Award to include community green spaces, empowers communities to improve their local community and environment and encourages the provision of good quality public parks and green spaces that are managed in environmentally sustainable ways.

The Community Award is an excellent example of civic achievement and provides communities with a great sense of civic pride building community engagement with green space improvement, and helps increase the quality of life within our communities.

The table below provides the information requested by the Deputy, since July 2017, when my Department was established. My Department paid An Taisce €22,000 in 2020 which is funding towards Green Flag Community Awards in 2021.

Funding Year

Purpose of Funding

Amount

2017

An Taisce for Green Flag Community Awards

€18,245.00

2018

An Taisce for Green Flag Community Awards

€20,370.00

2019

An Taisce for Green Flag Community Awards

€20,572.00

2020

An Taisce for Green Flag Community Awards

€22,000.00

Departmental Funding

Questions (1018)

Carol Nolan

Question:

1018. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the non-governmental organisations in receipt of funding from her Department; the amount of funding allocated to same in 2020; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24380/21]

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Written answers

My Department delivers a variety of schemes that provide supports for groups in rural and urban communities.

The provisional gross outturn for my Department in 2020 was €359.42 million. Of this, €152.73 million was spent within the rural development programme area and €202.51 million within the community development area. The remaining €4.17 million funded the Charities Regulatory Authority.

Core Funding is provided by the Department of Rural and Community Development for ––

The Scheme to Support National Organisations: In the Community and Voluntary Sector the Scheme to Support National Organisations is a key element of my Department's support for the role of the sector in contributing to the development of strong and vibrant civil society and in improving outcomes for those most disadvantaged. Funding has been allocated to 74 national community and voluntary organisations to cover the 36 month period of the scheme.

The Community Services Programme, or CSP: Over 420 community organisations were assisted with funding through the CSP by my Department during 2020, to provide local services through a social enterprise model. The CSP provides an annual co-funding contribution of €19,033 for each fulltime equivalent (FTE) position being supported, and, where warranted, provides €32,000 towards the cost of employing a manager. In response to the difficulties being experienced by organisations due to COVID-19, my Department developed a CSP Support Fund during 2020 totalling €4.75m which assisted CSP supported organisations to continue to retain their CSP supported employees on their payroll and also provided assistance for the Employers PRSI contribution, during this crisis period up to April 2021.

The Department’s Community & Voluntary Supports & Programmes provide a cohesive framework of support for the community and voluntary sector. The programme supports: 22 volunteer centres nationwide, Volunteer Information Services (VISs) in areas not served by a volunteer centre and a number of national volunteer-supporting organisations - Volunteer Ireland, Young Social Innovators, and Boardmatch.

The breakdown of core funding allocated to NGOs under these programmes and other NGOs funded are listed in the appendix.

31 Public Participation Networks (PPNs) are established nationally, funding of up to €75,700 per annum has been allocated by the Department to each PPN. This funding supports the on- going support and development of the network nationally.

Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) payments of €39,168,430 are issued to Local Authorities for onward provision, for programme delivery, to 46 Local Development Companies.

All schemes are open to applications from eligible groups during the application timeframes set for each scheme or programme. Further information on all schemes and funding programmes can be found on gov.ie.

Appendix

Departmental Staff

Questions (1019)

Peadar Tóibín

Question:

1019. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the number of persons employed by her Department; and the collective total salary received by employees of her Department. [24458/21]

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Written answers

The Department of Rural and Community Development was established on 19 July 2017 to provide a renewed and consolidated focus on rural and community development in Ireland.

I can confirm that as of 06/05/2021 there are 166 persons employed by my Department.

My Department has a pay allocation budget in 2021 of €10,579,000 which covers the salaries of those 166 persons.

Departmental Contracts

Questions (1020)

Peadar Tóibín

Question:

1020. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she or her Department employ persons or firms to deal with public relations; if so, the number of persons employed by her Department to deal with public relations; the names of any firms involved; and the amount spent on public relations by her Department. [24459/21]

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Written answers

My Department has not incurred any expenditure, either through staff hired or firms /consultants used, to deal specifically with public relations.

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