Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 November 2023
337. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she is aware of the application made by a group (details supplied) under the Pobal community services programme; and if so, if she will provide an update on the status of this application. [49139/23]
View answerMy Department's Community Services Programme (CSP) supports over 420 community-based organisations, to provide local services through a social enterprise model. CSP provides an annual co-funding contribution towards each full-time equivalent (FTE) position being supported, and, where warranted, towards the cost of employing a manager.
A Call for Proposals in respect of specific CSP services issued on March 6th this year and interested organisations were requested to submit a concept note as the first step in the application process. The concept note was for potential applicants to express an interest in making a full application for entry to the Community Services Programme.
Pobal, who manage and administer the Programme on behalf of my Department, received a huge volume of concept notes and as a result the CSP call was hugely over-subscribed and not all organisations who submitted a concept note were invited to formally submit an application.
Pobal have confirmed that they received and assessed a concept note from the named organisation and informed them they were eligible under this Open Call. The organisation was subsequently invited to submit an application under stage 2 which was duly received. All applications have been assessed by Pobal and their recommendations are currently being reviewed by my Department. It is expected that the first tranche of organisations approved following their stage 2 application will be notified by the end of November with the remaining organisations notified in early 2024.
