Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 July 2021
95. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the types of enterprises that may apply for the newly announced Covid-19 supports funding (details supplied) under the Our Rural Future - Rural Development Policy 2021-2025. [38323/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe €945,000 COVID-19 Social Enterprise Regeneration Programme is a Dormant Accounts Funded Programme exclusively for social enterprises that will assist them to re-purpose or diversify their trading income while adapting to the COVID-19 operating environment.
Social enterprises are businesses that work primarily to improve the lives of people. Their core objective is to achieve a social, societal, or environmental impact, and like other businesses, they pursue their objectives by trading in goods and services on an ongoing basis.
Surpluses generated by social enterprises are re-invested into achieving their core social objectives, and they contribute to a fair and inclusive sustainable recovery.
Throughout the pandemic, many social enterprises significantly stepped up and diversified their activities to adapt to local needs. Many that were required to close, continued to provide much needed support to their service users.
Through the COVID-19 Social Enterprise Regeneration Programme, twelve consortia of Local Development Companies, from every region in Ireland, will deliver training and mentoring programmes to an estimated 550 social enterprises that will build their capacity in areas such as strategic planning, digital innovation and governance.
The regional roll-out of the scheme is part of the commitment under Our Rural Future to deliver a suite of new measures to support the development of Social Enterprises in rural areas and to contribute to job creation locally.
This programme will complement mainstream business supports available to social enterprises, helping them to maximise their economic and social impact.
