Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 February 2023
55. Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the support made available by her Department for communities in order to respond to the accommodation of people arriving from Ukraine or for International Protection; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9044/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is assisting with the humanitarian response to the Ukraine crisis. My officials regularly meet with key national community and voluntary stakeholders, providing information, assisting the co-ordination of supports through the community sector, receiving feedback and enabling flexibility in programme delivery to focus on the response to new arrivals into communities.
My Department's Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) provides funding to tackle poverty and social exclusion through local engagement and partnerships between disadvantaged individuals, community organisations and public sector agencies. The 2023 allocation for SICAP is €44.3m.
SICAP has always provided supports for New Communities and has worked with IPAS applicants since the programme began. In addition, I secured funding of €10m for SICAP in 2023 to allow those Local Development Companies delivering SICAP to continue their work to support arrivals from Ukraine. This follows an allocation of €5m in 2022 for that work.
In 2022, my Department provided funding of €0.5 million for volunteer centres to deal with increased activity and demands on those centres and on the volunteers helping to deal with the Ukraine crisis. Additional funding of €1m was secured in 2023 for the volunteering element of the Ukraine response. This funding will be used to continue to support the ongoing efforts of volunteers and Volunteer Centres to respond to the needs of displaced Ukrainians and the ongoing community response to the crisis.
DRCD, along with other Government Departments, will continue to provide a range of supports to people in the International Protection system once they are accommodated in a community.
