Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 February 2026
30. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the number of applications received per year 2023-2024, and per county, for funding under the Community Recognition Fund; the number therein that were successful, the number that were unsuccessful, in each county; the allocation that will be provided to each county in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8632/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe 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. Under the fund a total of €100 million has been provided to local authorities to support cities, towns and villages nationwide.
The structure of the Fund saw proposals being developed by local authorities in consultation with communities for submission to my department in line with their total available allocation. Under the initial €50 million allocation in 2023, some 908 projects were approved. All projects submitted to my department by local authorities were successful in receiving funding
Under the CRF 2024, projects were approved over three phases across 2024 and 2025. In total 569 projects have been approved under CRF 2024, while 15 applications submitted by local authorities to my department for approval were not allocated funding. It should be noted that each local authority had a set financial allocation and were given the opportunity to replace unsuccessful applications with alternative projects in order to utilise their full allocation.
The emphasis is now to ensure that all projects are delivered throughout 2026 so that communities can benefit from this investment.
While there was no additional allocation in 2025 under CRF, my Department continues to support the development of community infrastructure through a range of other investment programmes.
The attached table sets out the number of applications that were successful and unsuccessful under both iterations of the fund in each county.
