Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 November 2025
832. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether his Department carried out any cost–benefit analysis before awarding €3.6 million under the 2025 Integration Fund; and if so to publish the findings, including the projected benefits, estimated costs and the methodology used to determine that the funded projects represented value-for-money for the taxpayer. [63847/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra833. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether his officials applied any metrics such as unit cost per participant, cost-per-outcome, or similar indicators when assessing applications under the 2025 Integration Fund; and to explain how these metrics influenced the final grant allocations. [63848/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra834. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether his Department examined the extent of duplication or overlap between the 117 funded organisations and existing State-funded integration supports; and whether any organisations were funded despite providing services similar to programmes already financed by the Exchequer. [63849/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra835. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether his Department assessed the proportion of each organisation’s budget that will be spent on administration, staffing or consultancy rather than direct service delivery; and whether maximum thresholds for overhead costs were applied during the evaluation process. [63850/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra836. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether his Department reviewed the past performance of any previous Integration Fund recipients, including whether organisations had met their stated outcomes, complied with reporting obligations or required financial correction or follow-up by the Department. [63851/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra837. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the monitoring and audit framework being applied to the 2025 Integration Fund, including how his Department will measure effectiveness, confirm delivery of outcomes and ensure that public funds are not used for activities outside the approved scope. [63852/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra838. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of applications deemed unsuccessful for the 2025 Integration Fund; the reasons for rejection; and whether any applications offering higher projected value-for-money were not selected. [63853/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra839. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether any of the organisations receiving funding under the 2025 Integration Fund have previously been identified by his Department or other State agencies for governance, compliance or financial management concerns; and if enhanced oversight has been applied in such cases. [63854/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra840. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether his Department has evaluated the impact of repeated annual grant allocations on creating organisational dependency on Exchequer funding rather than promoting sustainable, cost-efficient outcomes. [63855/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra841. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to provide a breakdown of the €3.6 million allocation, by county, including Cork; to set out the expected measurable outcomes associated with these allocations; and how they will be evaluated for value-for-money. [63856/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 832, 833, 834, 835, 836, 837, 838, 839, 840 and 841 together.
The Integration Fund supports communities across Ireland to play a greater role in promoting the integration of migrants, with a specific focus on people seeking international protection.
Funding is made available to organisations to carry out integration projects at a national, regional or local level. Organisations eligible to apply include local community groups, charities, faith-based groups, formal and informal schools and cultural organisations. Applicant organisations must operate on a not-for-profit basis.
2025 is the first year of the Fund, which combines the two funds previously known as the International Protection Integration Fund (IPIF) and the Communities Integration Fund (CIF).
Scheme A was open to large-scale projects that specifically promote the integration of people seeking international protection. The grants available under this funding call are from €10,000 to €100,000 for Scheme A projects.
Scheme B was open to smaller scale projects that promote the integration of all migrants. The grants available under this funding call are from €1,000 to €10,000 for Scheme B projects.
Scheme A applications were assessed under four main headings:
• Capacity of Applicant
• Strength of Proposal
• Ability to Engage with International Protection Applicants
• Financial Management & Value for Money
Scheme B applications were assessed under three main headings:
• Strength of Proposal
• Fit with the Goals of the Integration Fund
• Financial Management & Value for Money
All applications were assessed and scored in adherence with the assessment criteria set out within the published guidelines for applicants. Projects needed to score highly under all of the main headings outlined in the assessment criteria.
A list of successful projects broken down by county is available on the Department’s website.
https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/51921811/2025_Integration_Fund_Successful_Projects.pdf
Under Scheme A of the fund, 148 applications were received, of which 48 were successful and 100 were unsuccessful. Under Scheme B of the fund, 231 applications were received, of which 69 were successful and 162 were unsuccessful. Applications were ranked in accordance with the published assessment criteria.
Capacity of applicants was one of the scoring criteria, and previous experience in running projects was assessed under this heading.
As part of the application process, all applicants were required to declare any grant funding they are in receipt of. Scheme A applicants were also required to submit their most recent set of audited accounts for review. A duplication of funding check was carried out by the assessment team using this information. Where required, organisations in receipt of other forms of State funding must outline how their application is distinct from other projects covered by those funding streams.
Value for Money was one of the main headings under which all applications were assessed, where the benefits of the project were assessed against the costs.
The budget proposals of each applicant organisation were also reviewed by the assessment team. Although there was no maximum threshold applied to overhead costs, these costs were a key consideration in the scoring under the ‘Financial Management & Value for Money’ section of the appraisal.
Applicant organisations for Integration funds are made aware that grant funding is made available on an annual basis, and that there is no guarantee that any organisation will be funded in any given year. The level of funding made available in the 2025 Integration Fund may not be available in future iterations of the fund.
Integration Fund projects will be subject to the same audit framework that was applied to the funds previously known as the International Protection Integration Fund (IPIF) and the Communities Integration Fund (CIF).
Expected project outcomes are described in each application for funding and are assessed on their merits. Final project reports will be reviewed to assess the performance of the project, whether it met the stated outcomes, and whether the funds were spent as outlined in the funding application. Any underspent project funds will be recouped by the Department.
The Department is not aware of any governance, compliance or financial management concerns relating to organisations funded under the 2025 Integration Fund.
