1748. Deputy Brian Brennan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development when she expects to announce the awards for the community centres investment fund 2024; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1175/25]

In June last year, I was delighted to announce a new round of funding to support community groups to upgrade and refurbish the community facilities in their areas.  The Community Centre Investment Fund 2024 will provide funding of between €10,000 and €100,000 towards capital costs for the refurbishment of existing community centres.

The window for applying for the scheme closed in early September 2024. I approved in excess of €7.6 million for almost 400 community centres under category 1 of the fund in November last. These are projects seeking funding of up to €25,000.

All applications in respect of category 2 projects, which are applications seeking funding of up to €100,000, are currently being assessed and it is expected that successful projects will be announced in the coming weeks.