454. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a full breakdown on the disbursement of dormant account funding over the past five years, by county and by project basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19347/15]

455. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to release dormant account funding to community groups; the grant schemes available regarding same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19348/15]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 454 and 455 together.

Under the Dormant Accounts legislation, balances on dormant accounts with banks, building societies and An Post and the net encashment value of certain life assurance policies are paid into the Dormant Accounts Fund, which is managed by the National Treasury Management Agency. The primary purpose of the legislation is to re-unite the original account holders with their moneys, including all interest due. In addition, the legislation provides that disbursements from the fund may be made for charitable purposes or for purposes of community benefit.

Since its establishment in April 2003 to the end of 31 March 2015, the transfers to the Dormant Accounts Fund have totalled some €781m, which includes interest earned of approximately €41.86m. Funds reclaimed in that period by account holders amounted to approximately €299m. €301m of disbursements have been approved, with €254m already expended by a large number of community groups and organisations under a range of measures administered by Pobal on behalf of a number of Government Departments and agencies. Further data in relation to the Dormant Accounts Fund are available on my Department’s website at http://www.environ.ie/en/Community/DormantAccounts/.

A full breakdown on the disbursement of Dormant Account Funding measures, over the past five years, by county and by project basis from my Department’s Vote is set out at Table 1.

In accordance with the Dormant Accounts (Amendment) Act 2012, a new Disbursement Scheme was approved by Government in December 2013. The 2012 Act also provides for the preparation of an Action Plan to give effect to the Scheme. The current Plan includes some €26 million of measures across a range of Government Departments and Agencies that will provide diverse supports for disadvantaged communities, including measures under my Department to promote social enterprise and innovation, both urban and rural, and measures to promote youth employment, employability and entrepreneurship.

Pobal will administer a number of measures on behalf of my Department which are scheduled to be open for applications in July 2015. These will be publicly advertised and details will be available on Pobal’s website. Measures will include social enterprise development initiatives, supports for vulnerable groups of young people, young people in disadvantaged areas and for work to promote youth employment, employability and entrepreneurship on behalf of my Department.

Pobal will also administer the training and support services for home carers on behalf of the Department of Social Protection and a range of measures on behalf of the Department of Health. A complete listing of all measure s included in the current Dormant Accounts Fund Action Plan is set out at Table 2. Measures not administered by Pobal are being rolled out by the relevant lead Department.

Table 1

Summary of Dormant Accounts Measures paid through the vote of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government 2010 - 2015

Table 2

Dormant Accounts Action Plan 2014

The following table provides a summary of measures and maximum amount of moneys to be disbursed under the Dormant Accounts Action Plan 2014 under the relevant Government Department/Agency