Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 July 2026
946. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht his plans to address the salaries of community workers and volunteers; if he is aware they do not currently earn a living wage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53637/26]
View answerThe Government's five-year strategy to support the community and voluntary sector, Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities, confirmed our commitment to provide sustainable funding to the sector. A successor strategy that will reaffirm that commitment, is currently being finalised and will be published in the coming months.
I am aware of the challenges currently facing organisations in the sector around employment costs. Community organisations are funded by a combination of funding sources including public funding, fundraising, philanthropy, donations and charges for services in some cases. The pay rates for staff in community development organisations are a matter for the Boards of each organisation, operating independently and prudently within the resources available to them.
While my Department provides funding to some community and voluntary organisations, it is not the primary funder for many of those organisations. Furthermore, my Department does not have a direct mandate to set the terms of the funding arrangements put in place for diverse programmes and schemes, many of which are funded by other Government Departments.
My Department is however, committed to providing sustainable funding to the sector, for schemes and programmes under our responsibility, subject to sufficient exchequer funding being made available. Most of our current funding schemes that include a contribution towards staff costs, operate on a multi-annual basis, including the Scheme to Support National Organisations (SSNO), the Community Services Programme (CSP), SICAP, LEADER and the Community Development Programme (CDP). In this regard, a further €27.8m has been awarded up to 2029 to 92 national community and voluntary organisations under the SSNO, in recent weeks.
