94. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if her Department has assessed the scale of the impact on rural communities of the many community support schemes which her Department has run over the past five years, both in creating or improving community facilities and building community engagement and well-being; whether she has an estimate of the multiplier effect of these supports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40313/24]

With regard to the impacts and outcomes of investment by my Department, both the Revised Estimates Volume and the Public Service Performance Report provide high-level metrics with regard to the targets and outcomes for our most significant funding schemes. My Department’s Annual Report also provides an overview of the work of the Department each year, including funding commitments and project approvals under each scheme. The last 5 years has seen huge funding growth for both rural and community development, with a commensurate increase in the volume of projects funded.

While the specific issue of multiplier effects of supports has not been considered to date, the Department has undertaken focused policy assessment work on a range of programme areas including the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, the Town and Village Renewal Scheme and the Local Improvement Scheme. The reports are available on my Departments website, at www.gov.ie/en/publication/bf723-rural-development-research-and-analysis/.

The two largest community development schemes, the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) and the Community Services Programme (CSP) have reporting systems in place to collate activity and outcomes under the schemes, with this information utilised to produce both the annual statistics in documents such as the Revised Estimate, and regular detailed reports that inform the design of the programmes as they move from one programme period to the next. Again, all such reports are available on the Departments website. The annual reports for both SICAP and CSP, which are available on the Pobal website, provide clear evidence of the positive impact of these schemes for both individuals and communities.

Pobal, who administer the SICAP Programme on behalf of my Department, have conducted and published a number of assessments and learning briefs on the impact of SICAP services on particular cohorts, some in conjunction with ESRI. These publications include analysis of The Role of SICAP in Supporting New Communities, A Comparison of Women and Men Supported by SICAP and an Evaluation of SICAP Pre-Employment Supports.

In partnership with the ERSI, my Department recently published three reports focussed on scoping potential high level indicators for rural development in the long term. My Department is also working with the Department of Taoiseach on an approach to assess place-based and local well-being, in line with the National Well-being Framework and Programme for Government commitments. My Department also regularly engages with the Central Statistics Office (CSO), in terms of how their statistics can inform our work.

In terms of creating and improving community facilities, the recent establishment of the Community Centre Investment Fund is one example of the clear impact of our schemes. The first funding round approved over €45.8 million for improvement and refurbishment works on 861 existing community centres across Ireland. In April this year funding of €30 million was approved for the construction of 12 new community centres across nine counties. Applications for a further round of funding for improvement and refurbishment works recently closed, with huge interest once again.

The sustained level of investment in rural and urban communities over the last 5 years is having clear and positive impacts for our communities and local economies right across the country.