Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 June 2018
1187. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development his views on whether certain community services companies have limited revenue generating ability due to their location and the type of vital service they are providing; the steps he plans to take to assist these companies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25042/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Community Services Programme (CSP) supports around 400 community organisations to provide local services through a social enterprise model. CSP funding is provided as a fixed annual co-funding contribution to the cost of a manager and an agreed number of full-time equivalent positions, with €32,000 per annum provided for a manager and €19,033 per annum for each full-time equivalent (FTE) position.
The CSP contribution is required to be co-funded by supported organisations from other sources, for example, from income received from the public use of their facilities and services. However, their capacity to generate the required co-funding very much depends on the nature and scale of the organisation or the service provided.
My Department will commence a review of the CSP later this year. The review will consider, among other things, how the programme fits with overall Government priorities as well as my Department’s other community programmes and its policy objectives. Importantly, it will also examine the existing funding structure as well as options for matching supports and programme requirements to the nature and scale of the organisations and services being supported by the programme.
