Written answer
Departmental Funding
Successful applicants to the next Community Services Programme funding round are expected to join in early 2027, subject to budget allocations.
387. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection the timeframe for when he or his Department expects to issue the next round of community services programme, CSP, funding for community organisations that initially expressed interest and were unsuccessful in the first round this year. [66457/26]
Comment on this
The Community Service Programme (CSP) falls under the remit of the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht and currently supports the delivery of 453 services nationally via 434 community organisations to provide local social, economic, and environmental services through a social enterprise model with an allocation of €59.4m in 2026. The CSP Programme currently provides wage contributions towards 1,723 full-time equivalents and 354 managers.
In line with the Programme for Government commitment, on 30th March, Minister Jerry Buttimer announced an Open Call for new organisations to join the CSP Programme, through a two-stage process. I am advised that Minister Buttimer intends to invite successful applicants to join the CSP Programme at the beginning of 2027, and to review the level of support for existing organisations, subject to the relevant budget allocation to be announced next month.
As is standard practice, all future considerations in relation to the CSP Programme will be framed in the context of available budgets.