Departmental Expenditure

Tuesday, 15 October 2024

Questions (708)

Michael Moynihan

Question:

708. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the Exchequer amount allocated between current and capital allocations in 2024 and 2025 to schemes and programmes (details supplied) in her Department, in tabular form. [41247/24]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Rural and Community Development

The Exchequer funding allocations provided to my Department are detailed each year in the Revised Estimate Volume. The 2024 Revised Estimate, which presents the figures in tabular form, is available here: www.gov.ie/en/collection/e20037-revised-estimates/ . It should be noted that the announcement of funding under each scheme takes place in the context of our multiannual funding envelopes, with funding announced in one year often being paid out in subsequent years as projects are delivered on the ground. The allocations made in the Revised Estimate for each year reflect expected demands under each area during the year, with funding potentially being moved between schemes depending on demand as the year progresses. Furthermore, as actual expenditure levels materialise, funding may be re-allocated across sub-heads through either virement or technical supplementary to deal with emerging priorities.

Budget 2025 saw my Department’s overall budget increase from €431 million in 2024 to €472 million in 2025. This represents a 9% increase on the previous year and demonstrates the Government’s continued commitment to both Our Rural Future, and to supporting vital programmes which address social exclusion and community development needs. This €472 million in funding for 2025 will provide €212 million for rural development and €260 million for community development activities, continuing to breathe new life into towns and villages and support the social and economic development of rural and urban communities. The Revised Estimate 2025, which will be published in December 2025, will provide the voted allocations for each funding areas. However, indicative plans for 2025 funds are available here: www.gov.ie/en/press-release/ab0cf-budget-2025-ministers-humphreys-and-joe-obrien-deliver-472-million-for-rural-and-community-development/ . These funding plans remain subject to change until the Revised Estimate 2025 is published and voted upon.

With regard to 2024 funding allocations for the specific schemes referenced:

• The A.4 Rural and Regional Supports sub-head has total funding of €17 million in current funding and €22.82 million in capital funding. This includes indicative capital funding of €13 million for LIS in 2024 and €8.7 million for CLAR in 2024. Within the current funding available, €8 million is provided for the walks scheme and related supports. Funding of €1 million was announced to support Agricultural shows.

• The A.5 LEADER sub-head has a capital allocation of €44 million for 2024.

• The A.6 Rural Regeneration and Development sub-head has total capital funding of €95 million for 2024, with indicative allocations of €60 million for the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, €19 million for Town and Village Renewal, and €16 million for the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme. Exact expenditure on each scheme will reflect progress on the projects approved over recent years.

• The B.11 sub-head has an allocation of €21 million with an indicative €16 million for the Community Centre Investment Fund and €5 million for small capital grants under the Community Enhancement/Local Enhancement Programme. Again final expenditure may differ from these estimates.

• The B.10 Library Development sub-head has an allocation of €1.1 million in current funding and €6.6 million in capital funding for 2024.

• The B.8 PEACE programme subhead has an allocation of €4.3m in current funding and €1.5m in capital funding.

• The B.14 Community Recognition Fund sub-head has an allocation of €10 million in capital funding for 2024, which is in addition to €20 million carried forward from 2023 for use in 2024.

• The B.12 Community Services Programme sub-head has a current allocation of €52.4 million for 2024.

• The B.4 Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme and other supports sub-head mainly funds the SICAP programme, but with funding for other social inclusion initiatives and dog control is also within that area. For 2024 the SICAP programme has €51 million in core funding allocated, with an additional €10 million in non-core funding in the context of supporting new arrivals and the communities welcoming those arrivals. The dog control area has €0.6 million in current funding allocated from this sub-head.

• The B.3 subhead is for Supports for the Community and Voluntary Sectors, with €21 million available in 2024.

The overall allocations for 2024 and 2025, across the three high level programmes for my Department, are provided in the table below.

REV 2024 Allocations by Programme Area for DRCD (€m)	Current	Capital	Total
A - RURAL DEVELOPMENT, REGIONAL AFFAIRS & ISLANDS	38.533	166.887	205.420
B - COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT	177.407	43.114	220.521
C - CHARITIES REGULATORY AUTHORITY	5.418	0.000	5.418
GROSS TOTAL FOR V42 - DRCD	221.358	210.001	431.359

Budget 2025 Indicative Allocations by Programme Area for DRCD (€m)	Current	Capital	Total
A - RURAL DEVELOPMENT, REGIONAL AFFAIRS & ISLANDS	42.330	170.384	212.714
B - COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT	189.051	64.476	253.527
C - CHARITIES REGULATORY AUTHORITY	5.936	0.140	6.076
GROSS TOTAL FOR V42 - DRCD	237.317	235.000	472.317