Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 September 2022
140. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if consideration will be given to increasing the level of funding for staff wages on the community services programme due to the ever-increasing cost of living; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45046/22]
View answerMy Department’s Community Services Programme (CSP) currently supports over 430 community organisations to provide employment opportunities and the delivery of a diverse range of local services, through a social enterprise model.
The CSP contribution is not aligned to the minimum wage and does not meet the full salary cost of supported posts, rather it is a fixed annual contribution towards the salary costs of employees in supported organisations, with funding of €19,033 currently provided for each full time equivalent (FTE) position and €32,000 towards a manager's salary, where warranted.
The CSP contribution must be co-funded by the organisation concerned from other sources, for example, from income received from the public use of their facilities and services.
Following an independent review of the CSP, the programme is currently being redesigned. It is anticipated that all existing organisations will transition to the new programme in January 2023 following an application process which will take place later this year.
As part of the restructuring process, it is proposed to introduce a new funding rate allocation model for the CSP programme, as an alternative to the current flat rate payment model. The revised funding rates for the restructured programme have not yet been finalised and will be subject to the budget available to the programme in 2023.
