Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 November 2022
630. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the plans in place to increase individual payments to Pobal participants on CSP schemes, particularly given the forthcoming increase in the minimum wage and the announced increases in the CE top-up; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56167/22]
View answer631. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if an extra payment will be made to CSP sponsors to fund an increase in the amount paid to CSP participants; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56168/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 630 and 631 together.
My department's Community Services Programme (CSP) supports over 430 community-based organisations, to provide local services through a social enterprise model.
CSP funding is provided as a fixed annual contribution towards the cost of supporting an agreed number of full-time equivalent (FTE) positions including a manager, where warranted, with funding of €32,000 per annum provided towards the costs for the manager position and €19,033 per annum towards each FTE position.
The CSP contribution is not aligned with the minimum wage and does not meet the full salary cost of supported posts. It is a fixed annual contribution that must be co-funded by the organisations concerned from other sources, for example, from income generated from the use of facilities and services provided.
My department and Pobal have been working on the restructuring of the CSP, since the publication of the report on the independent review of the CSP in 2020 by Indecon International Economic Consultants.
As part of the restructuring process, a needs-based funding rate allocation model was designed for the CSP programme, as an alternative to the current flat rate payment model. The funding model was dependent on securing additional funding during the budgetary process. I am pleased to advise that we have secured an additional €3.5m for the CSP in 2023. CSP organisations that are operating in areas of high disadvantage, employing individuals from the prescribed programme target groups and having limited earning potential will benefit from the high funding rate category.
The revised funding rates to apply from January 2023 under the restructured programme were announced on 20 October. A total increase of €4,000 for both full time positions and managers is being provided for those organisations in the high funding category, with €2,000 per full-time position and manager being provided to those in the medium funding category. No change is proposed for the small number of organisations in the low funding category, these are organisations identified with the strongest earning potential and operating in less disadvantaged areas.
It is anticipated that the transitioning of organisations into the redesigned programme will occur in January 2023. The online application process closed on 14th October. The applications are currently being appraised by Pobal who administer the programme on behalf of my department and organisations will be notified of their funding allocations in December.
The staff in organisations supported by CSP, are not in a labour activation programme like the Community Employment Scheme (CE), which generally lasts 1 year, but can be extended by up to 2 years to complete a major education award. Scheme participants such as those on CE may also benefit from additional payments made to social welfare recipients including the Christmas Bonus and the most recent Cost of Living Support Payment, whereas the CSP contribution is a fixed annual contribution towards the cost of supporting staff.
