I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. He is right that there is a complete need for clarity and certainty around the issue of funding. The community and voluntary sector is quite diverse and receives, as he said, financial support from a wide variety of Government agencies, including our Department. The Deputy has highlighted a growth population projection of Midleton and Carrigtohill, and it is important that from a whole-of-government perspective; while working with local authorities, we get it right. That is going to be the next big part of Cork that is growing. The Government strategy to support the community and voluntary sector, Sustainable, Inclusively and Empowered communities, published in 2019, sets out a long-term vision for communities in Ireland and provides a strategic framework across government for engaging with the sector, as well as support for a range of programmes and initiatives. It included a commitment to promote multi-annual funding for community and voluntary organisations. Our Government is currently developing a successor strategy that will build upon the achievements, structures and programmes established under the previous strategy, while also responding to new challenges and contexts. Across the community development area of our Department, funding of €260 million has been provided this year, consistent with that commitment and the strategy for the community and voluntary sector. The most significant funding programmes provide support on a multi-annual basis, including the social inclusion community activation programme and the scheme to support national organisations. Some €74 million is being allocated to the SICAP and other social inclusion supports this year, which also includes €12 million in support for community integration work, helping to support new arrivals into our country. The community service programme also supports 426 community-based organisations with a budget of €59.4 million last year to provide services through the social enterprise model. Our Department will continue to work with the Deputy and all stakeholders, including community and voluntary and representative organisations and local development companies, to provide sustained financial support to community organisations throughout the country. The Deputy’s points are well made.

Sentiment score: 0.49

We as a Department and Government are committed to funding and working on a variety of schemes, whether through the community central investment fund which the Minister, Deputy Calleary is announcing a call later today on, or as we have done in the past, with the community recognition fund. The Deputy referenced the issue of the playground. We have the very proactive outdoor recreation investment scheme as well as the town and village renewal scheme and the rural regeneration and development fund. We work as a Department with Cork County Council but also with Avondhu Blackwater and the SICAP in developing the piece the Deputy referenced. The key point for us is that it is about ensuring the allocation of funding delivers. Last year we provided almost €12 million in financial support for Cork and I can give the examples of MyPlace Midleton and the Cork Cloyne Diocesan youth services, and I can quote a myriad of other examples as the Deputy knows quite well. His point is that we must ensure that at the very heart of what we do is people, place and giving people that sense of buy-in to their local community. It is about ensuring we work collaboratively to develop not just housing estates, which are very important and necessary, but a community where people can put down roots. We can have the piece the Deputy referenced coming off that as well.

Sentiment score: 0.33

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. There is no doubt that it takes local action groups to work and get things moving, but there is a county development plan as we know well that sets out the blueprint and roadmap for investment. Everything the Deputy has spoken about this morning in terms of provision of playgrounds, community centres, you name it, the Minister, Deputy Calleary and I are very committed to. We have met with a variety of organisations in terms of demographics and projecting future needs and is critically important that we as a Department and as a Government continue to invest. That is why we have programmes such as CLÁR, LEADER and the community centres investment fund, CCIF. I make the point that it is incumbent on the local authority as the lead agency on the ground working with the development companies to deliver and put in place that blueprint and road map. As I said in reply to Deputy Rice earlier, I got involved in politics because we had no library in Bishopstown. There will always be local activism but leadership needs to be provided by the local authority and Government. In our case, we are providing the funding and working with the council. I look forward to continuing to work with the Deputy in delivering because he is right that Carrigtohill and Midleton are pivotal to the development and growth of our county.

Sentiment score: 0.13

I thank Deputy Ward for his ongoing advocacy, targeting, commentary and genuine commitment to the delivery of community-led supports. He has raised this matter on numerous occasions privately and in the Dáil. The Minister and I share the Deputy's view on tackling social disadvantage. The social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, is our country's primary social inclusion intervention programme, overseen by our Department. It is a national programme delivered in rural and urban areas by local development companies, LDCs, to help those in greatest need. SICAP supports people and community groups that face disadvantage providing targeted supports in areas such as employment, mental health, education and community engagement, improving quality of life for those facing social exclusion and inequality. The Minister and I are very much aware of the ongoing need. We are committed to the provision of supports and structures. That is why as a Government and we as Ministers in the Department were delighted to have secured an additional €1.5 billion in the budget this year, bringing annual funding for SICAP to over €50 million. We are also of the view that supports should be provided to staff of local development companies in local communities which use community centres as a hub. Our Department's CSP currently supports 426 community-based organisations with a budget of €59.4 million, an increase of €4 million from last year to provide 445 local, social economic and environmental services through a social enterprise model. We will have further news on the CSP in light of the programme for Government commitments later in the month.

Sentiment score: 0.37

Deputy Ward raises an interesting point. Sometimes we miss that cohort of young people. Rightly, we focus on men's sheds, women's sheds, older people's social services and that integration piece. As we saw today in the announcement by the Minister, Deputy Calleary, of the CCIF, the community centre is the hub and the visible piece that leads to the ongoing delivery of integrated supports, which directly reduces social exclusion for older people, in particular. The Deputy made a good point. Perhaps working with the Ministers, Deputies Foley, Calleary and Naughton, we can look at a further model in terms of what we are already doing. Let us be honest - we need to listen and engage all the time. We have an ongoing conversation around online safety for young people but there is a piece in particular post-Covid where demand continues to grow in our Department, reflecting the complexity of life today in communities. I am open to the conversation around what structures and supports we can put in place for that younger age group, perhaps working at a cross-department level. The Deputy's points are very well made.

Sentiment score: 0.22

What Cork City Council has done on the nighttime economy with no-alcohol cafés for young people is an example the Government as a whole must look at. Our Department has a variety of schemes and programmes that reflect the whole ethos of what the Deputy is trying to achieve. I am open in terms of eligibility criteria in the new call for applications under a variety of schemes, such as the CSP or SICAP, to looking at how we can broaden the remit while mindful that we do not have an infinite budget and will have loads of applications. We need to have a conversation as we emerge from Covid and in a new world around our attitudes to alcohol and online. What the Deputy is saying reflects a new Ireland. We must open to engaging and putting a new structure in place. I would be happy to sit down with the Deputy further and engage on that. I do not want to speak for the Minister but I am sure he would also be open to having that conversation. We must look at how we can allow these young people to make a contribution and have them involved and engaged in our community networks and, as Deputy Ward said, not just forget them, think they are all being looked after and that they have migrated to an online space that is very difficult, truculent and complex. The points Deputy Ward has made are worth considering and I certainly look forward to further engagement with him on it.

Sentiment score: 0.26

I thank Deputy Ó Murchú for the question. In July 2024, prior to my appointment, the Department launched Trading for Impact, the national social enterprise policy, which was developed in partnership with the social enterprise sector. It has five key objectives, which are to build awareness of social enterprises, help them grow their financial sustainability, contribute to the green transition, deepen alignment from local to international level, and improve our understanding of social enterprises and their impact. A stakeholder engagement group was established in June 2025, including public and private stakeholders, to co-ordinate delivery of the policy. Three working groups have now been established to address social financing issues and gaps, increase participation in public and private procurement, and raise awareness and make their impact more visible. Through these structures, work is continuing to support and grow the sector. The Minister, Deputy Calleary, and I were pleased to secure €400,000 of additional funding through the Estimates process to support this work. Areas of focus include a new Dormant Accounts Fund scheme to grow financial sustainability, which I expect to launch very shortly, and engagement with stakeholders, including the Office of Government Procurement, to increase procurement and sustainability for social enterprises through traded income. They also include phase 2 of a pilot voluntary quality mark for social enterprises to help build their visibility, and the census of social enterprises, which will be launched in the coming weeks, to better understand and support the sector and help to set the direction of future policy. While there was some delay in commencing implementation of the policy in late 2024, and I remind Deputy Ó Murchú that there was an election and a Government needed to be formed, significant work has been undertaken since my appointment and that of the Minister. We are committed to seeing this policy delivered. I assure Deputy Ó Murchú that the officials in our Department and other Departments, in partnership with the stakeholders, are working to ensure that all of the actions will be implemented over the lifetime of the policy. Deputy Ó Murchú mentioned SERI and I congratulate the former Minister, Richard Bruton, on his appointment as chair of SERI. We look forward to working with him to further develop the issue Deputy Ó Murchú has outlined. I have met many social enterprise groups since I became a Minister of State and I can tell Deputy Ó Murchú that I am very excited about this sector. I look forward to working with him to see it succeed further.

Sentiment score: 0.43

I look forward to working with Deputy Ó Murchú in this particular area. Since my appointment, when I assumed responsibility in this area, we have engaged extensively. I have visited and met many stakeholders and social enterprises. To say the least, I am absolutely excited by the work being done. The objectives will be met. The stakeholder engagement group has met and it has a programme of work. It is committed to engaging on this and engaging with us further. I assure Deputy Ó Murchú the officials in the Department are engaging with colleagues on this matter on an ongoing basis. Deputy Ó Murchú should feel free to raise any issues with me. It is important to recognise that the Trading for Impact policy was developed in partnership with the sector. It is about partnership, le chéile and working together. Implementation of this policy must be done in partnership for it to succeed. I look forward to the stakeholder engagement group continuing its work. It has met four times since it was appointed and it has established three expert working groups to provide recommendations and advice and to help it implement the individual actions under its remit. I look forward to working with Deputy Ó Murchú because this is a brilliant, breathtaking and refreshing area to be in.

Sentiment score: 0.36