Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 February 2024
206. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if emergency grant funding is available to an organisation (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9453/24]
View answerI have put in place an integrated programme of capital funding supports for the development of community facilities right across the country which are relevant to the case raised by the Deputy.
For example, under the 2022 Community Centre Investment Fund in particular, over €45.8 million was committed for improvement and refurbishment of over 860 existing community centres across Ireland. Following on from that, I launched a specific measure for new build community centres and I expect to announce the successful projects under this measure in the coming weeks. In addition, the Community Recognition Fund also provided funding for organisations such as that referred to by the Deputy, with €50 million allocated under that scheme last year.
I can confirm that an application from the centre referenced by the Deputy has been allocated €258,853 under the Community Centre Investment Fund 2022 for upgrades that address health and safety concerns. To date €232,968 has been provided to the organisation for these works.
There is no mechanism for emergency support under these schemes, however the additional works required may be eligible under future iterations of my Department's schemes. The details of any new iterations of these schemes will be made available on my Department's website as and when they are launched. In particular, I have been in discussion with my Government colleagues in recent weeks in relation to a further iteration of the Community Recognition Fund and would hope to make an announcement in this regard shortly.
