Cathal Crowe
Question:69. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development how many applications have been received to date for the 2023 community centres investment fund. [28220/23]
View answerTuesday, 13 June 2023
Questions (69, 85, 99)
David Stanton
Question:85. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development to outline the level of interest to date in applications for the 2023 community centres investment fund; the options available under the fund to communities in circumstances where access to suitable land for the construction of a community centre is not easily accessible; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28286/23]
View answer
Paul Donnelly
Question:99. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development for an update on the community centre fund, which closed on 3 July; and if requests for funding have exceeded the fund available, and if so, by how much. [28300/23]
View answerOral answers (9 contributions)
How many applications have been received to date for the 2023 community centre investment fund?
I propose to take Questions Nos. 69, 85 and 99 together.
The Government recognises the important role community centres play in community life, bringing people together and engaging with those who may be marginalised or disadvantaged. I am always struck by the immense pride communities have in their locality. The community centre should be a safe, positive and accessible space for all manner of community activities and I want to ensure community centres will remain a hive of activity.
As Minister, I have placed a huge focus on developing and improving community centres nationwide. With this in mind, my Department has put in place an integrated programme of supports for the development and refurbishment of community centres in schemes such as the CLÁR programme, the LEADER programme, the town and village renewal scheme, the community support fund and, of course, the new community centres investment fund, which I announced last year.
This year, I have shifted the focus of the community centres investment fund somewhat. While last year's iteration of the fund focused on widespread improvements to community centres throughout the country, the 2023 fund focuses on supporting new-build community centres. The response to last year’s fund was phenomenal and the initiative was well received. In excess of €45.8 million was allocated to refurbish more than 860 community centres, making them safer, more accessible and more enjoyable places for families and communities. By doing this, we have ensured these great facilities will remain at the heart of our communities and continue to act as a hive of activity. These projects are ongoing and will be completed over the coming year.
My aim under the 2023 round of funding is to support communities with shovel-ready plans to build new community centres. It became clear from the success of the first round of funding and engagement with communities and the local authority sector that strong demand exists for funding to develop new-build multifunctional community centres. The Government recognises the important services provided through community centres and, therefore, I want to assist community groups striving to build their own community centre to service local needs.
I was delighted to announce a €20 million fund in March for shovel-ready new-build community centre projects on green or brownfield sites.
This means that planning permission and all the necessary consents are in place in advance of application. This requirement will ensure projects that are ready and waiting are delivered and that facilities become available in a timely fashion. The measure is open to both urban and rural communities. The minimum grant funding available is €1 million with the maximum being €6 million. As the grant funding is substantial, and for the purposes of compliance with public financial procedures, the lead party to an application must be a State-funded body, for example, a local authority, a local development company or a State agency. Therefore, if a community organisation or voluntary group wishes to avail of this fund, they must partner with a State-funded body that will assist them with the application and project management. As the deadline for receipt of applications is 3 July, I am not in a position at this stage to definitively quantify the number of applications that will be made nor indeed the number of proposals likely to be funded. The exact number of projects funded will depend on the size and scale of the successful projects. However, I have been very encouraged by the level of interest to date from communities as we approach the closing date for applications.
In circumstances where suitable land for construction of a new community centre is not available, communities can use my Department's integrated programme of supports to upgrade an existing building. For example, I launched the 2023 building acquisition measure under the town and village renewal scheme in March. The building acquisition measure allows local authorities to apply to purchase vacant or derelict buildings to be brought back into use as multifunctional community spaces, such as community centres. This year the measure provided an increased funding allocation of up to €500,000 to each local authority to purchase up to three vacant and derelict buildings. This builds on the success of the 2022 building acquisition measure and I was happy to approve support for the first tranche of successful applications this week. It is important that we build strong, coherent communities and that facilities are provided to meet the needs of these communities into the future. Therefore, I encourage communities which have shovel-ready projects to apply for funding under the 2023 community centre investment fund. There is still a bit of time left yet.
From the outset, the funding the Minister made available in 2022 through the community investment fund was well spent. I was looking at the list that was published late last year in relation to my own constituency. There are sums that are large and small but which are significant to many voluntary groups out there. Whitechurch received €100,000; Firmount, €136,000; Grenagh, €25,000; Courtbrack, €26,000; Farranree Community Centre, €100,000 and the list goes on. All those groups and organisations right across the country, with which many Deputies here will have worked, were very grateful for this fund specific to community centres.
I will twist the question Deputy Crowe tabled. Regarding the money that was spent last year, will there be a further roll-out of the category 1, 2, and 3 which the Minister had in the community centre investment fund last year which covered grants on a small scale up to €25,000, larger scale grants up to €25,000 to €100,000, and the major projects of €100,000 to €300,000 in terms of refurbishment? Will there be an element of that again this year?
I thank the Minister for her answer to the question. It is obviously early days and we do not know the extent of the applications for that fund. It will be important to know the extent of them because then we will be looking to the need and the demand within the communities. I return to the community centre investment fund. There are strong stipulations on how we also need guidelines and boundaries around it. However, if a community centre on band 2 or 3 with an application for funding, discovers that there is an issue it did not know about, which unfortunately is now going to throw their timelines way out, is there leeway within the guidelines for that community centre to come back and ask for another six months or an extra year on top of what they had because otherwise they might lose the funding?
This was a scheme that everybody was looking for for many years. It really has been a lifesaver for many rural communities. In the early years, community centres were where everybody was going and they were being used by the community. I compliment the Minister for the funding she has secured. In particular, I thought it was a fantastic idea to have the bigger projects and the smaller projects. It has been a lifesaver. When does the Minister expect to be making the announcements again on the community centres?
I thank the Deputies for their input. Initially, the fund for the upgrade of the community centres was €45 million. A lot of applications came in. It was initially anticipated that there would be €15 million in this fund but I was able to find savings from other areas. I know this is an important one and that many communities are benefiting. I was even out in Deputy Donnelly's own constituency in Hartstown and it was well-received that day. The community was delighted. The community centre certainly needed a facelift. The Deputies are asking me whether there will be more funding. I really think it is a good scheme and I will make the case to see if we can get further funding. Again, that will be part of the budgetary process. We have the fund now for the new community centres and they are important as well. There are many new communities across the country which do not have the wherewithal to acquire a community centre. We want local input into this as well. For these big schemes from €1 million to €6 million, we thought it was important for the financial management of these projects - because they can go awry - and we wanted the involvement of the local authority or a State agency to help communities to manage these. It is a big ask to get a community to do that itself.
The smaller grants of up to €300,000 were administered through Pobal. I have been out and about and a few people have said to me that certain projects were going to cost more than they thought. That is usual. I told them they could not have gold taps and they had to cut their cloth to measure, but we do not want to see anybody not progressing and we will look at things within reason. There is no doubt that we will do that. In terms of time delays, I am trying to keep the pressure on. If I have not spent the money, it is very hard to make the case for additional funding when I go in with a cap in hand to the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. I know there will be delays and we will give a degree of flexibility. That is important because at the end of the day, this is about communities. It is about helping them to realise their ambition for their areas in terms of a new community centre or upgrading the existing one. We were very conscious during Covid-19 that communities could not do the normal fundraising so this was the helping hand. Some of the communities only got small amounts but it really has made a difference. Again, it came from the bottom-up approach. I thank the Deputies for raising this matter with me.
I thank the Minister. I have two supplementary questions. First, from what the Minister said, I take it that the focus this year will be on the new builds, and pending the budget later in the year, that the Minister hopes for a new round of last year's community investment fund sometime next year. Will the Minister clarify that? I do not want to be putting words in her month but she might expand on that. The second is regarding the fact that a State-funded body has to be the lead actor. I am assuming that is an organisation like Cork County Council or Cork City Council that will work in partnership with either a new community association, a new voluntary group or perhaps an existing one. In my own area of Glanmire, servicing a population of 25,000 people, all we have is an old former schoolhouse building, the equivalent of three rooms, which is not fit-for-purpose for catering to the demands of that community. We are shipping people left, right and centre outside for all sorts of amenities. Will the Minister clarify this again? I assume it is working in the spirit of partnership.
I welcome the response about projects where the issue may not even be extra money, but a difficulty with a planning application or something that has been discovered that has thrown plans a little awry. As I said, it is not always about extra money, though that is welcome, but the flexibility to maybe kick it out for a further six months if the timeframe is already 12 months. I agree it cannot be unlimited and there has to be a definite line put on it. The community centre fund has been welcome and as I said, we had a fantastic day in Hartstown Community Centre. It is certainly one of the projects we really look forward to starting and finishing to get it back into the community and operational as much as we possibly can.
We work with people and we have a degree of flexibility and common sense, to be fair. Again, we engage with the Department or with Pobal at the minute. It all comes from my Department.
For the new build in Glanmire, I suggest that Deputy O'Sullivan should work with the local authority. It needs to engage. The local authority has been asked to engage with communities and to help to build capacity within communities that need new community centres. He should engage with the community section of his local authority. There has to be real engagement with the people on the ground to find out exactly what they need. It is important their needs are taken into consideration. My advice is to go to the local authority. I will leave it at that.
Question No. 70 taken with Written Answers.