Written answer
Departmental Schemes
The Minister said SICAP runs from 2024–2028 with annual funding; Offaly received over €3 million in core funding and €605,000 for arrivals, with increases pledged.
4146. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if he will provide multi year certainty for SICAP funding to allow for workforce planning in counties experiencing increased arrivals, including County Offaly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62188/26]
Comment on this
The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP), is our country’s primary social inclusion intervention, a national programme delivered in both rural and urban areas by Local Development Companies to help those in the greatest need. SICAP is a multi-annual programme, co-funded by the European Social Fund Plus, with core funding allocated on an annual basis. The current iteration of the programme runs from 2024 to 2028, with approximately €147m in core funding allocated nationwide as of 2026, including over €3m allocated for programme delivery in Offaly since 2024.
In addition to this core funding, over €45m in additional once-off funding has been allocated to SICAP programme implementers since 2022, to deliver supports to New Arrivals, including Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection and International Protection Applicants. Since 2022, over €605k has been allocated for delivery of New Arrivals supports in Offaly. Any additional New Arrivals funding is allocated each year using data provided by the Central Statistics Office and the Department of Justice on the geographic placement of New Arrivals, to ensure the areas with the greatest need receive adequate funding to deliver supports.
SICAP funding, including any additional once-off funding for New Arrivals supports, is subject to the annual budgetary Estimates process. There has been a positive trend of year-on-year increases in SICAP funding in recent years. I was delighted to have secured an additional €1.5m in Budget 2026, which brought the increase in funding to SICAP since 2022 to €11.3m, and bringing the annual funding to over €50m in 2026.
I am keenly aware that challenges remain for communities across Ireland both in the context of supporting New Arrivals and in tackling deprivation and social exclusion more generally. In that regard, I am committed to progressively increasing funding for SICAP, in line with the Programme for Government commitment.