Statement by the Minister for Rural and Community Development on COVID-19

Check against Delivery

Dáil Éireann, Wednesday 3rd June 2020

A Cheann Comhairle

I welcome the opportunity to address the Chamber today to update Deputies on the work of my Department as part of the national effort to address the challenges presented by Covid-19.

Community organisations, charities, social enterprises and the volunteers who assist them, have been an integral part of our country’s response to this pandemic. And while elements of our society and economy are now beginning to reopen, the reality is that the community and voluntary sector never closed.

In recent weeks, when other sectors have been unable to operate, the Community and Voluntary organisations, Charities and Social Enterprises have stepped up to the plate in their local communities, delivering vital services to those most in need.

And, while a whole of government coordinated approach is the backbone in planning and managing the effects of this emergency, solutions are ultimately implemented at a community level.

Recent weeks have demonstrated, as never before, the benefits of having robust community structures in place. And it is vital that we continue to support our communities as our country moves into the recovery phase.

Our Response to COVID-19

From the outset of the crisis, my Department has played a central role in supporting the needs of the most vulnerable in our communities.

Because of the partnership approach developed by my Department with the Community and Voluntary Sector, we were well placed to respond quickly and effectively to the challenges presented by the Covid-19 crisis. Due to our expertise in this area, my Department was represented on the NPHET Sub-Group on Vulnerable People and was instrumental in planning the Government’s response to the needs of vulnerable people in our communities.

As an immediate response to the crisis, I published the COVID-19 Action Plan as a first step to support the community response.

Its 3 key initiatives were:

• Letting people know how and where to volunteer;
• Increasing community supports for older people through a partnership with ALONE, and
• Launching an email helpdesk supporting smaller community groups.

At the same time, my Department produced a COVID-19 Communication Pack for Communities.

The Community Call

Following the launch of our Action Plan, my Department developed proposals for a whole of Government response to the needs of vulnerable people in our communities. This ultimately became the Government’s Community Call initiative - an unprecedented mobilisation of national government, local government and the community & voluntary sector to support vulnerable people in our communities during the COVID-19 emergency.

The Community Call is managed locally by Local Authorities, led by Chief Executives, who chair a dedicated Community Forum in their local authority area to respond to the needs of people cocooning in their homes. Crucially, the Community Forums include all of the State and community and voluntary organisations responding locally to the COVID-19 crisis.

The Community Call initiative has ushered in a new way of working, a shared purpose and significant levels of collaboration between local and national government, community and local development, and the volunteer sector. My Department has played a central role in the Community Call from its inception, sitting on the National Oversight Committee and providing funding and support for many elements of the community response.

Last month, in response to the urgent need for equipment and other supports, I announced a €2.5 million COVID-19 Emergency Fund for community and voluntary groups taking part in the ‘Community Call’. Local Authorities are distributing this funding to community groups supporting vulnerable people in getting through this crisis.

Volunteers have been very much to the forefront of the community response. Volunteer Ireland and local Volunteer Centres participated fully in the Community Call structures. With their help and advice, many pressing issues in relation to the community response - such as safe volunteering, volunteer management and Garda vetting - were dealt with effectively and professionally. And in response to the significant extra demand on their services, my Department provided additional financial support to our Volunteer Centres.

The COVID-19 Community Outreach scheme, run by The Wheel and Irish Rural Link was another important element of the Community Call funded by my Department. Community Champions are now in place in all local authority areas and are represented on the local Community Response Forums.

In addition, our Public Participation Networks are currently playing a central role in the community response to the COVID-19 emergency, as evidenced by initiatives at local level throughout the country.

The response by the 49 Local Development Companies to COVID-19 has been rapid and widespread, with many of their 170,000 service users reached in the early days and weeks of the crisis. Local Development Companies play a key role in the Community Call, participating on all of the Community Forums and helping to co-ordinate the community response.

Through the national social inclusion programme SICAP, Local Development Companies continue to work with the most disadvantaged in society, and this is more important than ever during this crisis.

In addition to the Communty Call, we supported our public libraries, who were were quick off the mark to expand and adapt their digital services once the Covid-19 restrictions were imposed. Branches had to close, but our libraries are now delivering more services online and it is now possible for new members to register online to avail of these services. Over the last three months, I have provided an extra €400,000 to the Library Service to meet the demand for online services.

€40m package to support the Community, Voluntary and Charity sectors

My Department has also responded to the urgent needs of Community and Voluntary Organisations, Charities and Social Enterprises that are suffering financial difficulties as a result of the COVID-19 restrictions.

A few weeks ago, I announced a €40m package of supports, consisting of two key elements -

First, a €35 million ‘COVID-19 Stability Fund’ to assist organisations which are experiencing severe financial difficulties due to a reduction in fundraising and traded income as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The second part of the package is a €5m Government contribution to the Innovate Together Fund which is also supported by philanthropic donations.

Flexibility in Funding Supports

As well as developing new funding schemes, existing supports provided by my Department have been enhanced in response to the pandemic. An example of this is the adaptation of the Seniors Alert Scheme to link with the ALONE National Helpline, offering a Befriending service to participants.

My Department and Pobal are allowing the maximum level of flexibility possible to Community Services Programme (CSP) supported organisations to ensure that they can continue to employ their staff and support their communities. We have also put in place a Support Fund which is providing an additional once off payment to eligible CSP supported organisations to assist with staffing costs in the short term.

My Department also recognised the challenges being faced by Local Action Groups in delivering the LEADER 2014-2020 programme and swiftly moved to introduce additional flexibilities to support their ongoing operations.

And finally, despite the cancelation of this year’s Tidy Towns competition, I have committed that funding allocated to groups throughout the country this year will still be available to continue the great work in making our towns and villages attractive and welcoming.

Towards Economic Recovery

I have outlined to you my Department’s work in responding to the COVID crisis since the middle of March. As we now begin to ease the restrictions, my Department also has an important role to play in the recovery.

Just last week, I announced a package of measures under my Department’s Rural Development Investment Programme to help rural economies and rural communities in their post-COVID recovery. This package included €15 million for the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, €10 million for the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme and €5 million for the CLÁR programme. Each of these schemes has been adjusted this year to help rural towns and villages to adapt to how they do business and how people can socialise within the context of the public health guidelines.

The Rural Regeneration and Development Fund will also be instrumental in supporting the economic recovery of rural areas following COVID-19. To date, funding of €148 million has been approved for 110 projects under the Fund, and a budget of €53 million has been allocated to the Fund for 2020.

A significant factor in the economic recovery of rural areas will be the availability of access to high-speed broadband. Broadband Connection Points will be opened across the State in the coming weeks and months, allowing many communities without reliable broadband an opportunity to work remotely and to conduct their business online from local facilities.

Social enterprises are also an important part of local economies in rural areas and are well placed to address our priorities in the COVID recovery phase, by creating jobs, generating local economic activity, and addressing broader policy priorities relating to the environment and local services.

Above all, as we head into a new phase of economic recovery, it is important that no region is left behind and that no person is left behind. We need to ensure that we bring all of society with us.

Conclusion

Covid-19 has brought about a shift in our values as a society, with greater emphasis placed on the value of our neighbours, our communities, and of being ‘in this together’. We have always known in Ireland that our communities were our great strength, but recent weeks have demonstrated this as never before. I would like to pay tribute to each and every person in our communities – volunteers and paid employees - who played a part in this great national effort.

What we have learned from recent experience is that collaboration and partnership between the Community and Voluntary Sector and the State, at national and local level, are key to responding to the needs of our communities. We must build on our experience now and ensure that this way of working is sustained as we move into the recovery phase.

I know that many challenges lie ahead but I am confident that, if we all work together, we can move towards a more inclusive, resilient and sustainable future for everyone in Ireland - we will not only recover, we will thrive.

ENDS