I thank the Chairman and members of the committee. As they will all know at this stage, I was very keen that the Department of Rural and Community Development was kept as a stand-alone Department, which is why I have two separate Supplementary Estimates before the committee today. I am happy now to give a brief overview of the Supplementary Estimates for the Department of Rural and Community Development. The proposed Supplementary Estimates cover an additional €10 million for the energy support scheme for community and voluntary organisations not covered by other support schemes; an additional €150,000 for payroll costs relating to the recent Building Momentum wage agreement; movement of €4 million from subhead A7, rural regeneration and development, to meet demand under subhead A5, LEADER; and movement of €1.9 million from current to capital within subhead B6, support for disadvantaged communities, which funds the Dublin north-east inner city, NEIC, initiative.
As I have said, the first adjustment involves the provision of €10 million in new funding for the energy support scheme for community and voluntary organisations. This scheme was announced as part of budget 2022 and will help to support community and voluntary organisations around the country that are not eligible for support under the temporary business energy support scheme, TBESS, which is being administered by the Revenue Commissioners. Recognising the importance of the voluntary sector around the country, the Government has put in place a number of support schemes covering areas such as sports organisations, cultural institutions, and community-based health and social care providers. The scheme being operated by my Department will provide €10 million to support community and voluntary groups which are not eligible for support under these other schemes. Pobal is administering this scheme on behalf of my Department, and applications are open until 2 December, with the financial support being made available as soon as possible thereafter.
The second adjustment will provide an additional €150,000 for the Department’s payroll costs for 2022, relating to recent commitments under the Building Momentum wage agreement. While the increased costs will amount to €300,000 in 2022, the Department can cover €150,000 of this from payroll savings within its previously allocated resources. The additional €150,000 will increase payroll for 2022 by 1.3%.
Separately, there are also two technical supplementary adjustments which involve the reallocation of resources from one area to another, with no increase to the voted allocation for the Department. First, the LEADER programme has seen very strong demand in recent years, with 5,500 projects being supported under the current and transitional programmes. The original Estimate for the LEADER programme in 2022 was for expenditure of €48 million. This now needs to increase to €52 million to meet the additional demand in 2022. This €4 million will be moved from subhead A7, rural regeneration and development. Subhead A7, which had an allocation of €97 million for 2022, funds the rural regeneration and development fund, RRDF, the town and village renewal scheme and the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme. From early 2022, as a result of the knock-on effects of construction delays during Covid, it was apparent that demand under the RRDF would not meet expectations. In August, I decided to double the local improvement scheme funding from €11 million to €22 million using savings from this area. Further savings of €10.5 million have also been used to support the community response in assisting Ukrainian refugees throughout the country. In addition, €5 million has been used for a community support fund to help community groups with increased costs and €500,000 has been provided to meet demand under the community centre investment fund. With regard to these savings under the RRDF scheme, I have engaged with local authorities throughout the year to emphasise the need for quicker delivery of RRDF projects and the importance of local authorities delivering on the commitments they make when applying for the funding. Real progress is being made. There are now over 100 RRDF projects being delivered throughout the country and this will ensure a very strong spend for 2023. In addition, as Deputies will be aware, I recently announced €115 million under the RRDF. This is the largest ever allocation under the fund since it was introduced in 2018 and will ensure there is a strong pipeline of projects for the years ahead.
The second technical supplementary adjustment involves moving €1.9 million from current to capital under subhead B6, supports for disadvantaged communities. This is to enable the Dublin NEIC initiative to support those projects which have been approved by the NEIC programme implementation board. The original Estimate was put in place prior to the decisions on funding being made by the programme implementation board and it is now necessary for the Vote to reflect the higher capital spend which is taking place in 2022. Current expenditure within this subhead has reduced by the same amount, and so expenditure will remain within the agreed funding envelope.
In closing, I would like to thank the committee for taking the time to consider the Supplementary Estimate and for its courtesy and support throughout the year as we seek to deliver programmes which I know are making a real and lasting difference in towns, villages and parishes across the country. Myself and my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O’Brien, are happy to answer any questions that members might have.