Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 October 2021
466. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated amount of the additional €5 million that was made available through Dormant Accounts funding for carers and persons with disabilities as of September 2020 that has been granted to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48244/21]
View answerOn 16 September 2020, I announced a funding allocation of €5 million under the Dormant Accounts Fund Action Plan 2020 and a Call for Applications to support initiatives under the heading of "Measures to Support and Improve Employment (incl. self-employment) Opportunities for Carers and Persons with a Disability”. There were three measures under which organisations could apply:
- Measure 1: Access to employment, self-employment and training/education supports for family carers
- Measure 2: Initiatives to support and develop young carers
- Measure 3: Access to employment and self-employment for people with a disability
Pobal is managing the process on behalf of my Department. A comprehensive appraisal process was undertaken by Pobal to review the eligibility and quality of applications received as well as financial management and governance. Applications were evaluated based on the measure specific guidelines determined by my Department and the general criteria applicable to Dormant Accounts Disbursements.
In December 2020, I was pleased to announce a funding package in excess of €2.3 million for the total of 17 projects who made an application under this measure. The delivery period for the successful applicants is from 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2022.
The nature of the process and timing of this process can result in a variance between the expenditure outturn versus the original estimate. There is no way of predicting with any degree of accuracy the number of applications that will be received in relation to a call for proposals. As part of the competitive process organised by Pobal each of the applications is evaluated against a number of preset criteria, and successful organisations do not always receive the amount of funding sought in their application.
The grantees are funded according to an agreed payment schedule. Pobal issue an initial payment on receipt of a signed grant agreement, with 90% initial funding provided for grants of less than €50,000 and 60% for grants of more than €50,000. To date, a total of 58% or over €1.38 million has been paid to grantees.
As outlined above, the Dormant Accounts Fund 2020 Plan provided funding for two measures that focused on Family Carers and Young Carers. For the first measure, there were just four applicants and funding of €378,075 was provided. A further single application was received as a joint application for both Measure 1 & 2 and funding of €199,815 was requested and provided.
Finally, it should be noted that additional funding requests amounting to €380,153 were received by Pobal from two family carer representative organisations in 2021, both of which are currently in receipt of funding under the Dormant Accounts Fund 2020 Plan. A decision on the outcome of these applications will communicated to the organisations by Pobal shortly.
I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
