Minister Joe O’Brien announces increased funding for 400 community organisations
- Published on: 5 November 2024
- Last updated on: 5 November 2024
- Additional €3 million funding to support community services organisations from January 2025, under the Community Services Programme (CSP)
- Over 400 community organisations nationwide to benefit
Minister for Community Development, Integration and Charities, Joe O’Brien, has today (Tuesday, 05 November 2024) announced an increase in funding for the vast majority of Community Services Programme (CSP) supported organisations.
The CSP aims to provide employment opportunities and local services to disadvantaged communities.
The revised funding rates to be applied from 1st January 2025 will see:
- an increase of €1,850 in the annual contribution per full-time equivalent post to organisations categorised as having a high funding need; and
- a €1,755 increase in the annual contribution per full-time equivalent post for CSP organisations categorised as having a medium funding need.
No change is proposed for the small number of organisations in the low funding category, these are organisations identified as having the strongest earning potential and operating in less disadvantaged areas.
These increases will assist organisations to meet higher labour costs from 2025 onwards.
Speaking today, Minister Joe O’Brien said:
“I am pleased to announce additional funding of €3 million to provide an increased contribution to both the medium and high Community Services Programme funding categories.
“I am very conscious of the increased costs being faced by organisations supported under the Community Services Programme and the increases being announced today will ensure the continued sustainability of the supported organisations.
“The increases provide higher levels of support to organisations with limited earning potential, operating in areas of disadvantage and employing individuals from the prescribed programme target groups.”
The Minister went on to say:
“This is the third successive annual increase in funding rates that has been approved since the introduction of a new funding model for the CSP Programme.
“I fully appreciate and have seen at first-hand, the invaluable work carried out by CSP-supported organisations around the country and I am pleased to be able to provide further financial support to existing organisations.”
Notes
Community Services Programme
The Community Services Programme (CSP) currently supports 450 community-based services via 430 organisations, to provide local social, economic and environmental services through a social enterprise model.
CSP provides an annual co-funding contribution towards each full-time equivalent (FTE) position being supported, and, where warranted, towards the cost of employing a manager. As of October 2024, there are 350 managers and 1,721 FTEs currently being supported under the programme.
Revised allocations
The CSP contribution is not aligned to the minimum wage and is not intended to meet the full salary cost of supported posts, rather it is a fixed annual contribution towards the salary costs of managers and employees in supported organisations. The CSP contribution must be co-funded by the organisation concerned from other sources, for example, from income received from the public use of their facilities and services.
As part of a restructuring process completed in 2022, a new funding rate allocation model for the CSP programme was introduced in January 2023, as an alternative to the previous flat rate payment model. CSP organisations that are operating in areas of high disadvantage, employing individuals from the prescribed programme target groups and having limited earning potential benefitted from the higher funding rate category.
Given the increases in the cost of providing the services in the community, the Department’s contribution per full-time equivalent employee will increase in 2025 by €1,850 to organisations having a high funding need and €1,755 to organisations categorised as having a medium funding need. No change is proposed for the small number of organisations in the low funding category, these are organisations identified with the strongest earning potential and operating in less disadvantaged areas.
The 2025 revised allocations are outlined in the table below.
| Overall rating | New rate per FTE in 2025 |
| High | €27,600 |
| Medium | €24,930 |
| Low | €19,033 |