957. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht further to Parliamentary Question No. 349 of 1 July 2026, whether he consider SICAP to constitute a significant source of start-up funding for social enterprises given that, for every €1,000 allocated through SICAP, approximately €2.15 is awarded to social enterprises, only around 1.5% of social enterprises receive SICAP funding annually, and the average award is €1,284; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53358/26]

The overall aims and objectives of Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) are to reduce poverty and promote social inclusion and equality in Ireland through supporting communities and individuals using community development approaches, engagement and collaboration, including collaboration with social enterprises providing services or supports to SICAP’s 12 Target Groups.

In recognition of the importance of engaging social enterprises to effect positive change, the current iteration of SICAP, 2024 to 2028, contains a revised Key Performance Indicator for Goal 1, which now explicitly includes provision of social enterprise supports, financial and non-financial, as working towards achievement of Goal 1 objectives.

Data for 2024 and 2025 indicates 473 social enterprises were supported in 2024, and this increased to 501 in 2025. Of that 501, 28% were new registrations to the programme, highlighting SICAP’s growing role in supporting the establishment of social enterprises through capacity building and small-scale financial supports, up to a maximum of €2,500 per social enterprise per annum.

For every €1,000 in core funding allocated through SICAP in 2025, approximately €3.10 was awarded to social enterprises. This was broadly similar in 2024, where the rate was €3.18.  The average award per grant in 2025 was €1,216.03, compared to €1,424.45 in 2024.  Based on national social enterprise data, it is estimated that 2.88% of social enterprises received SICAP funding in 2025, up from 2.4% in 2024.

While social enterprises have, of course, a significant role to play in achieving the objectives of SICAP, the programme itself is not specifically designed to act as a substantive funding source for social enterprises or other community groups and grants available are small-scale in nature. SICAP’s primary focus is delivery of supports to its 12 Target Groups, and providing supports to strengthen organisations’ capabilities in working with those Target Groups to build inclusive and empowered communities and tackle marginalisation and poverty.

The Programme for Government commits to incremental increases in the overall funding for SICAP, which would enable the programme’s capacity to support social enterprises, community groups and  individual beneficiaries to be expanded.