Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 July 2021
3434. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will examine the case of an organisation (details supplied) which was eligible under the priority criteria for the COVID-19 Stability Fund for Community and Voluntary, Charity and Social Enterprises but did not receive any funding. [39305/21]
View answerThe Government is aware of the challenges facing community and voluntary organisations and is committed to working closely with the sector in managing through these, recognising that it will require a whole of Government approach. To that end, Government and my Department have introduced a wide range of supports to assist sectors in dealing with the impact of COVID-19 and social restrictions necessary in the interests of public health.
During 2020, the Dormant Accounts funded COVID-19 Stability Fund supported close to 600 organisations to continue to deliver vital services to the communities that depend on them. An additional allocation of €10m has been provided to the Stability Fund for 2021 as part of the revised Resilience and Recovery plan announced on Tuesday 23rd February by an Taoiseach.
The COVID-19 Stability Fund 2021 was launched on Thursday 6th May and open for applications from May 20th -27th, and was again targeted at organisations which deliver critical services to vulnerable people within their community but which now face closure or a loss of service due to the impact of the pandemic. This funding is targeted at supporting not-for-profit organisations to continue to meet non-pay current commitments on overhead costs only.
In order to be eligible, an organisation must demonstrate a loss in private income of 25% or more in 2020 when compared with 2019 and/or a projected loss in private income of 25% or more in 2021 when compared with 2019. ‘Private Income’ refers to income generated by the organisation itself through trading, fundraising, legacies i.e., funding received from sources other than the state.
Salary costs are not considered eligible expenditure under this funding stream as Government has introduced wage supports such as the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS).
As per published guidance:
- Organisations that have not received previous support from the DRCD COVID-19 Stability Scheme 2020 or other Government schemes (Public/State);
- Organisations that are experiencing severe financial difficulties and are at risk of severely reducing their eligible critical services and supports and/or in danger of not continuing and/or reopening;
- Organisations that are not in receipt of public/state funding or where public/state funding represents a relatively small percentage of overall income, will be prioritised for support.
I was pleased to announce tranche one of funding under the 2021 Fund to 180 successful applicants on 9th July 2021, allocating close to €4.5m in funding. Remaining applications, including from the organisation in question, are currently being appraised and assessed and outcomes will be notified in due course.
All allocations will be published on the Gov.ie website. In general, I would encourage all organisations to continue to engage with their Local Authority and Local Development Company, and to check on the Gov.ie website in order to be aware of funding opportunities as they become available.
