Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 May 2021
728. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the funding schemes available to community organisations that are also companies limited by guarantee in the context of Covid-19. [25522/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is aware of the challenges facing community and voluntary organisations and is committed to working closely with the sector in managing through these, recognising that it will require a whole of Government approach. To that end, Government and my Department have introduced a number of supports to assist sectors in dealing with the impact of COVID-19 and social restrictions necessary in the interests of public health.
I am pleased to confirm that an allocation of €10m has been provided to the COVID-19 Stability Fund for Community and Voluntary Organisations, Charities and Social Enterprises for 2021 as part of the revised Resilience and Recovery plan announced on Tuesday 23rd February by the Taoiseach.
The COVID-19 Stability Fund 2021 was launched on Thursday 6th May, and is targeted at organisations which deliver critical services to vulnerable people within their community but which now face closure or a loss of service due to the impact of the pandemic.
For the 2021 application process, all applicants, with the exception of Community Centres providing social services, must be registered with the Companies Registration Office or the Charities Regulator or the Registrar of Friendly Societies. In this context community organisations that are limited by guarantee will be eligible to apply if they fulfil the other scheme criteria.
Eligibility to apply or submitting an application is no guarantee of funding, and applications will be checked and may be prioritised as advised on the Pobal website. However I would encourage all interested potentially eligible applicants to consider submitting an application. The application window will run from 20 May to 3pm on 27 May 2021.
This, and further information, including details of eligible services, is available on Pobal’s website here:
https://www.pobal.ie/programmes/covid-19-cv-stability-fund-2021/, with support available from stabilityscheme@pobal.ie from now until the application deadline.
In general, I would encourage all organisations to continue to engage with their Local Authority and Local Development Company, and to check on the Gov.ie website in order to be aware of funding opportunities as they become available.
