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Joe O’Brien, Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Department of Social Protection, today (Monday, 18 July 2022) officially visited a number of community initiatives in County Kerry.
Commencing the 2-day event in South Kerry, the Minister, hosted by South Kerry Development Partnership, visited Sneem Digital Hub, a former dance hall converted to a modern, high tech, digital hub where he met with representatives of the Hub, local elected representatives and volunteers involved in the project. This Hub aims to bring reliable digital infrastructure and employment to Sneem.
Moving on to Cahersiveen, the Minister had meetings with Local Link Kerry and representatives of the Cahersiveen Inter-Agency Ukrainian Response Forum who are co-ordinating the local community response to the needs of the people arriving from Ukraine to the South Kerry region.
Speaking in Cahersiveen, Minister O’Brien said:
“I am delighted to see the huge efforts and the ongoing collaboration among agencies in response to the arrival of people from Ukraine to the South Kerry region. These efforts cannot be overstated and I am delighted to have recently allocated additional funding through the SICAP programme to South Kerry Development Partnership CLG to help with the response. I know that this funding is welcomed and every effort will be made to secure additional funding into the future as this crisis continues.”
The next stop on the Minister's itinerary was to a Signpost Farm, one of a number of signpost farms located around the country, leading and supporting the transition of Irish farming towards sustainable farming systems.
The final visit in South Kerry was to Kerry Mental Health and Killarney Men’s Shed in Killarney - projects supported by the Department of Social Protection Rural Social Scheme and Tús and the government’s social inclusion programme, SICAP.
South Kerry Development Partnership CLG is a community led local development company. It was founded in 1991, and was one of the first area based partnership companies to be established by the government under the auspices of the then programme for Economic & Social progress (PESP).
South Kerry Development Partnership CLG is an experienced rural development organisation and has successfully implemented numerous state & EU funded rural development programmes since its foundation in 1991. It combines an economic development role, creating sustainable jobs and attracting investment with community, cultural and social development activities. South Kerry Development Partnership CLG works with a very broad range of stakeholders, including individuals, communities, businesses, networks, cooperatives, government agencies and departments. It is a non-governmental organisation and is legally established as a Company limited by guarantee with registered charitable status with the Irish Revenue Commissioners. The operation of South Kerry Development Partnership CLG is overseen by a voluntary board of directors consisting of 22 members representing 4 key pillars, The Community & Voluntary Sector, The Social Partners, Statutory Agencies and Local Government. The community & voluntary sectors is the largest pillar on the board.
SICAP assists both individuals and groups through a 2-pronged approach; supporting communities and supporting individuals. SICAP target groups include; children and families living in disadvantaged areas, lone parents, new communities (including refugees/asylum seekers), people living in disadvantaged communities, people with disabilities, Roma, the unemployed (including those not on the Live Register), travellers, and young unemployed people living in disadvantaged areas.
Tús scheme is an employment support measures for long-term unemployed people and other people in receipt of long-term payments from the Department of Social Protection.
The scheme employ participants to deliver a range of services to local communities throughout the country. These include local amenities management, environmental projects, arts and culture, sports, childcare, TidyTowns, health-related services, meals on wheels and drug rehabilitation schemes.
RSS is an income support initiative providing part-time employment opportunities in community and voluntary organisations for farmers or fishermen in receipt of certain social welfare payments and underemployed in their primary occupation.
The Signpost programme is a multi-annual campaign to lead climate action by all Irish farmers. The Programme is a collaborative partnership of farmers, industry and State Agencies, working together for climate action. The programmes aims to achieve early progress in reducing gaseous emissions from Irish agriculture and also:
It will also act as a test bed for on-farm carbon sequestration measurements so that this can, in time, be taken into account by the EPA in the national Greenhouse Gas inventory. It is a collaborative programme, led by Teagasc and includes all relevant industry partners and state bodies such as Bord Bia.