Mary Lou McDonald
Question:994. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the range of supports provided by her Department to social enterprises. [7913/22]
View answerSocial Enterprise Sector
Questions (994)
Written answers
Social enterprises are businesses that work primarily to improve the lives of people. Their core objective is to achieve a social, societal, or environmental impact. Like any other business, they pursue their objectives by trading in goods and services on an ongoing basis. However, surpluses generated are re-invested into achieving their core social objectives.
My Department has responsibility for implementation of the National Social Enterprise policy for Ireland 2019-2022, which is helping to create an enabling environment for social enterprise to grow in scale and impact, and contribute to social and economic progress. The Policy is focused on three main objectives; 1. Building Awareness of Social Enterprise; 2. Growing and Strengthening Social Enterprise; and 3. Achieving Better Policy Alignment.
Under Objective 2 (Growing and Strengthening Social Enterprise) my Department continues to support social enterprises in a number of different ways including through the annual €2.3m Dormant Accounts funded Social Enterprise Measure.
Last year the measure supported 247 social enterprises through the €1m Social Enterprise Capital Grants Scheme, and the €680k Awareness Raising Initiative for Social Enterprise (ARISE) which supported 50 projects. I also provided €400k funding for a pilot Start-up Scheme for Social Enterprise which supported 25 early stage social enterprises, and €160k funding to the Covid-19 Social Enterprise Regeneration Programme, which is providing training and mentoring in strategic planning and income diversification. These supports are designed to complement other mainstream business supports.
My Department also provides significant supports to social enterprise through a number of other programmes including the Community Services Programme (CSP), Social Inclusion Community Activation Programme (SICAP) and LEADER. Social Enterprises had full access to the Innovate Together Fund and the COVID-19 Stability Fund, which were also available to the wider community and voluntary sector.
Apart from funding, my Department also supports the development of social enterprises in other important ways such as providing training and mentoring in procurement, increasing awareness of social enterprise, cross Government and international engagement, supporting higher level research and providing guidance into issues such as legal forms for social enterprise.
Departmental Funding
Questions (995)
John Lahart
Question:995. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the organisations in south-western areas of Dublin that have been in receipt of funding from her Department. [8362/22]
View answerWritten answers
My Department was established in 2017 and funds a range of programmes and schemes to assist in rural and community development, which are available to eligible community groups and organisations throughout the country.
In the 2022 Revised Estimates, my Department was allocated €378 million. This funding ensures that we are in a position to further assist communities seeking funding and other supports for important local activities and projects.
The amount allocated by my Department for urban and rural development and renewal purposes in the past years to-date was €314 million in 2020, and €209 million in 2021.
Dublin was allocated €49.3 million in 2020 and €35.5 million in 2021. Unfortunately data is not available at project level at the granular geographical level requested by the Deputy.
This funding includes the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP), the Community Services Programme, the Town & Village Renewal Scheme, the Community Enhancement Programme, supports for social enterprises, and funding for public libraries across the country.
That said, the Department’s Community Services Programme (CSP), which is administered by Pobal on behalf of my Department, currently supports over 420 community organisations nationwide to provide local services through a social enterprise model. CSP funding provides a co-funding contribution of €19,033 towards the cost of each agreed full-time equivalent (FTE) positions and €32,000 towards the cost of each manager position, where warranted. The CSP contribution does not meet the full salary cost of the supported positions, organisations are required to provide additional funds from their own resources such as traded income, to meet the full cost of employment. During 2021, the CSP supported 21 organisations in south western areas of Dublin with a contribution towards the cost of supporting 17 Managers and 112 full time equivalent positions, with all contracts extended to year end, with a total allocation of almost €2.7m for 2022. Full details of CSP supported organisations are available on Pobal’s website.
My Department provides a cohesive framework of supports for the community and voluntary sector. This includes supports for 29 Volunteer Centres and a number of national organisations such as Volunteer Ireland and Young Social Innovators. A minimum of €121,000 per annum is provided, by my Department, to strengthen and foster volunteerism in Ireland to each Volunteer Centre. This funding helps to build a support structure to develop volunteering locally thus enabling Volunteer Centres, including South County Dublin, to play a central role in facilitating and supporting the development of volunteering in their areas.
My Department also has overall responsibility for the funding, governance oversight and development of the national Public Participation Network (PPN) network. A PPN is a structure that brings together volunteer-led groups in each Local Authority area to represent the community sector in local policymaking. PPNs have been established in all local authority areas, including South County Dublin. My Department provides funding of up to €55,700 per annum to each PPN, supplemented by local authority funding. This funding is to be used for the cost of the employment of Resource and Support Worker, and ongoing operational costs such as office accommodation and training.
South Dublin County Council received €780,000 in funding under the Outdoor Recreation and Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS). The projects were approved under ORIS 2017 and the funds were subsequently drawn down in 2019. South Dublin County Council have been allocated €148,500 under ORIS 2020 and have been awarded a further €382,000 under ORIS 2021. Details of all approved projects are available on the Department’s website at www.gov.ie/drcd
LEADER is a multi-annual programme with a total budget of €250 million allocated for the period 2014-2020 and The Transitional LEADER Programme has €70 million available for the period 2021 and 2022. The programme, which is co-funded by the EU, is based on a local-led, bottom-up approach to rural development. The programme supports projects from local community groups and businesses which, amongst other objectives, promote economic development, social inclusion and the protection of the rural environment.
The programme is administered at local level by Local Action Group (LAGs) across the country who are responsible for selecting and awarding LEADER funding to projects within their own geographical area. In order for a project to be eligible for LEADER funding, it must be compatible with the actions outlined in the approved Local Development Strategy in the area concerned, and it must comply with the Operating Rules and EU Regulations in place for the programme.
The funding Allocation for Dublin Rural LAG which includes the areas in south west Dublin for the 2014-2020 LEADER Programme is €6,370,438 and for the 2021-2022 Transitional LEADER Programmes is €1,882,175.
My Department has provided Dormant Accounts Funding to social enterprises and social enterprise support organisations located in the Dublin South West region since 2017 as follows.
|
Year |
Scheme Name |
Funding in SW Dublin |
|
2017 |
Social Enterprise Measure |
€32,574 |
|
2018 |
Social Enterprise Measure |
€122,081 |
|
2019 |
Training & Mentoring Scheme |
€92,868 |
|
2019 |
Small Capital Grants Scheme |
€25,000 |
|
2020 |
Small Capital Grants Scheme |
€15,000 |
|
2021 |
Social Enterprise Capital Grants |
€54,128 |
|
2021 |
Awareness raising Initiatives for Social Enterprise |
€17,500 |
Details of funding allocations under specific schemes provided by my Department are available online at www.gov.ie/en/organisation/department-of-rural-and-community-development/
I am confident that the funding supports and policies provided by my Department are delivering, and will continue to deliver, tangible benefits for both urban and rural communities, supporting economic development, and enabling the local and community development sectors to continue to provide valuable much needed services and supports to all communities throughout the country.