My Department’s Community and Voluntary Supports and Programmes provide a cohesive framework of support for the community and voluntary sector. This programme supports 21 Volunteer Centres and 8 Volunteer Information Services, as well as a number of national organisations, including Volunteer Ireland. Over €3 million was allocated for these organisations in 2016.
With the assistance of Volunteer Ireland, my Department has recently initiated a review of the distribution of funding to Volunteer Centres, to ensure a more sustainable distribution of funding. The funding of all Volunteer Centres, including Louth Volunteer Centre, will be considered in the course of this review, and in the context of funding available following Budget 2017.