Departmental Data

Tuesday, 28 April 2026

Questions (1327)

Conor D McGuinness

Question:

1327. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the total allocation of funding to each State agency under his Department’s remit, broken down by the allocation to each agency, for each of the past 15 years, in tabular form. [30801/26]

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Written answers

Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht

The Department of Rural and Community Development was established in 2017, with the Gaeltacht function being added to the remit on 1 June 2025. Prior to this the Gaeltacht function and its agencies were part of the payroll of the now Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.

There are currently eight agencies under the remit of the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht: Pobal, Western Development Commission, Charities Regulatory Authority, Water Safety Ireland, Oifig an Choimisinéara Teanga, Údarás na Gaeltachta, Foras na Gaeilge, and the Ulster-Scots Agency. These agencies are independent legal entities responsible for managing their own corporate affairs in compliance with their statutory obligations, including their expenditure management.

The attached table provides the funding allocation for each of the agencies, from each year from the Department’s establishment in 2017, to 2026. While the Gaeltacht remit transferred to the Department on 1 June 2025, the figures included in the table for that year represent the full year allocations for 2025. I would note that this information is published in the relevant Revised Estimates Volume for each year.

Pobal is an agency of my Department which works on behalf of Government to manage and implement a number of publicly-funded programmes designed to improve outcomes for local communities, particularly those encountering social and economic disadvantage. It should be noted that Pobal operates on the basis of a framework agreement with my Department and programme-specific service level agreements. Annual payments are based on the services delivered under the latter agreements. Therefore it does not receive a set budget allocation on an annual basis. The figures in the attached table in respect of Pobal represent payments by my Department to the organisation for the administration of various grants schemes on behalf of my Department in the given year. Pobal are in receipt of funds in a similar manner from a range of Government Departments, with information on funding presented in their accounts each year.

Funding Allocations to DRCDG Agencies 2017 to 2026

Funding Allocation (Original REV allocation)	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
-	€'000	€'000	€'000	€'000	€'000	€'000	€'000	€'000	€'000	€'000
Western Development Commission	2,495	1,516	2,028	2,049	2,166	2,266	2,382	2,620	2,858	3,208
Water Safety Ireland	1,007	1,014	1,118	1,124	1,179	1,179	1,424	1,844	2,492	2,992
Charities Regulatory Authority	4,466	4,552	4,606	4,606	4,606	4,606	5,103	5,418	6,076	6,643
Pobal	-	64,297	61,610	94,810	72,143	92,515	101,968	102,953	85,744	-
An Coimisinéar Teanga	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1,677	1,977
Údaras na Gaeltachta	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	38,657	41,157
Foras na Gaeilge	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	16,482	17,462
Ulster-Scots Agency	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	841	1,020

Notes:

• The Gaeltacht function and agencies (An Coimisinéar Teanga, Údaras na Gaeltachta, Foras na Gaeilge, and Ulster-Scots Agency) transferred into the Department on 1 June 2025. All 2025 figures listed in the table above represent the full year figures for 2025.

• Pobal costs reflect payments made to the organisation to administer and support a number of grants programmes on behalf of the Department in the year in question, since the oversight agreement was established in 2018. The 2026 figure will not be available until year end.