Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 May 2026
336. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht his views on whether the Community Recognition Fund should support local areas where hotels have been converted to IPAS centres and local businesses have been affected by a decrease in tourist footfall. [30421/26]
View answerThe Community Recognition Fund (CRF) was first introduced in 2023 to recognise the huge efforts made by communities in welcoming and supporting people coming to Ireland rom Ukraine and other countries. Under the fund a total of €100 million has been provided to local authorities to support community based projects nationwide.
The scheme was designed to target the areas most impacted, including areas where hotels were utilised to accommodate new arrivals. The amount of funding allocated to local authorities was based on an assessment of the number of new arrivals in each county. Thereafter, the selection of projects by local authorities was targeted at villages, towns and city areas where these new arrivals were located.
Over 1,460 projects have been awarded funding under the CRF benefiting communities around the country. A significant number of projects approved under the CRF are now complete and the emphasis is now to ensure that all projects are delivered throughout 2026 so that communities can benefit from this investment.
In addition, my Department continues to support the development of community infrastructure through a range of other investment programmes, details of which are available on my Department’s website. This includes a number of schemes which are already open for applications in 2026, such as the expanded CLÁR programme, the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund and the 2026 Community Centre Investment Fund.
