Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 February 2021
1061. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the extent to which her Department continues to monitor urban and rural community activity with a view to addressing issues arising from Covid-19, Brexit or other reasons; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8602/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department’s policies and funding programmes aim to deliver sustainable outcomes that positively impact the quality of life of those living and working in our communities.
The Department of Rural and Community Development is finalising a new whole-of-Government Rural Development Policy for the next five years, which will set out a range of measures to strengthen the resilience of our rural communities and economies, including addressing the impacts of challenges experienced by people living and working in rural Ireland and maximising opportunities for rural areas. The development of this policy was underpinned by extensive consultation with rural communities. Ongoing dialogue will be maintained with rural stakeholders throughout the duration of the policy timeframe, in order to respond to new issues identified, including, the challenges posed by COVID-19 and the impact of Brexit.
My Department has continued to deliver the range of policy measures to support urban and rural communities. Those policies are informed during development, by extensive consultation with a wide range of stakeholders including Government Departments, State Agencies, rural stakeholder groups, young people and the wider public. This on-going engagement process has been important in monitoring urban and rural community activity and in identifying areas relevant to the work of my Department where interventions such as targeted supports or funding are required and the most appropriate remedial or proactive measures that can be taken in response.
The Rural Regeneration and Development Fund provides investment to support suitable projects in towns and villages with a population of less than 10,000, and outlying areas which will deliver on the National Strategic Objective of Strengthened Rural Economies and Communities and achieve sustainable economic and social development in these areas. The third call for Category 1 applications to the Fund closed in December 2020. Based on an analysis of the challenges faced by rural communities and ongoing discussions with stakeholders, this call for applications had a dual focus - to deliver planned and sustainable regeneration in towns and villages, and to channel investment towards economic recovery in the post Covid-19 environment, providing an immediate stimulus to support the recovery and further development of rural economies and communities. For similar reasons, changes were also made in relation to the intensity of funding which could be sought from the Fund under this call, with the Fund providing up to 90% of the total project value for successful projects under this call. I will announce the successful projects under this call in the weeks ahead.
The LEADER programme remains operational through the COVID-19 crisis and payments continue to be made to the Local Action Groups, their Implementing Partners and to project promoters. In December last, I announced details of a Transitional LEADER Programme which will come into effect from 1 April 2021, with an initial allocation of €20 million this year.
A key focus of the Transitional Programme will be on building capacity within communities which have not received LEADER funding to date. The programme will also support job creation, foster and encourage entrepreneurship, and support projects which address the climate agenda, digital transformation and the Smart Villages approach to building on local strengths and assets.
Under the Transitional Programme, the grant rate for enterprises and commercially-focused community projects will be increased from a maximum of 50% to a maximum of 75%. This will further help to support enterprise development and job creation in rural areas in a post COVID and Brexit environment.
My Department currently supports over 420 community organisations under the Community Services Programme, or CSP, to provide local services through a social enterprise model, in both urban and rural communities. CSP funding is provided as a fixed contribution towards the cost of employing an agreed number of full-time equivalent positions (FTEs) and a manager, where warranted. The Department provides a co-funding contribution of €32,000 per annum towards the cost of supporting a manager and €19,033 per each FTE. In response to the difficulties being experienced by organisations due to COVID-19, my Department developed a Support Fund totalling €4.75M which assists all CSP supported organisations to continue to retain their CSP supported employees on their payroll, regardless of whether the organisations are in a position to continue to provide normal activities or whether they have had to close their facilities/services as a result of the COVID restrictions. The CSP Support Fund provided funding to many of these CSP supported organisations, ensuring that they can pay their full-time equivalent (FTE) CSP supported employees a maximum of €350 net per week, with a proportionate amount for part-time CSP supported employees, while also assisting with the Employers PRSI contribution, during this crisis period up to April 2021.
My Department and Pobal, who administer the programme on behalf of my Department, will allow the maximum level of flexibility to these organisation and we will continue to monitor the situation closely in light of COVID and any issues that may arise.
I will continue to collaborate with my Government colleagues and will monitor the issues which impact our urban and rural communities in order to respond to emerging needs.
