Minister Buttimer publishes the Dormant Accounts Action Plan 2026
-
From: Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht
- Published on: 24 November 2025
- Last updated on: 24 November 2025
- €47 million in funding to help address disadvantage
Jerry Buttimer, TD, Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, today (Monday, 24 November 2025) announced funding of just under €47 million from the Dormant Accounts Fund to address disadvantage right across the country. He launched the 2026 Dormant Accounts Action Plan in Blackrock, Co. Cork at the “Try Table Tennis Programme” at Aston School, who have received Dormant Accounts Fund support.
Money in the Dormant Accounts Fund can be used to fund measures that address economic, social, or educational disadvantage and to support people with a disability. The 2026 Action Plan allocates funding of €46.97 million to 56 measures to be delivered across 11 Government Departments.
Launching the Action Plan today, Minister Buttimer said:
“I am very pleased to officially launch the Dormant Accounts Action Plan 2026 which provides funding of €46.97 million to help address disadvantage right across Ireland. The 56 measures approved for funding in 2026 will be implemented across Government and will help to address a diverse range of issues such as homelessness, disability, youth disadvantage, migrant integration and sports measures for disadvantaged communities.”
The Minister continued:
“In these challenging times, Dormant Accounts funding makes a real difference to individuals and communities right across the country. The 2026 Action Plan being published today will help ensure that we can continue to support the most vulnerable in society. I am particularly pleased to see continued support for people with disabilities across many department measures.
“I am particularly pleased to have implemented a stronger emphasis on disability in this year’s distribution of Dormant Accounts funding. This is in line with the Programme for Government’s Commitment to prioritise funding and opportunity for people with a disability.”
Minister Dara Calleary TD noted:
“I welcome the 2026 Dormant Accounts Action Plan which will see €46.97 million in funding targeted at addressing disadvantage across the country. The Dormant Accounts Fund has continually aided the most vulnerable. Within my own Department, it will allow continued funding of €2.1 million for the Senior Alerts Scheme, €4 million for Rethink Ireland and €1.5 million to support implementation of the National Philanthropy Policy. It will also see support for Social Enterprise measures of €2 million and for the many individual groups under the Targeted Social Inclusion Measure receiving €780k in total. These interventions, and similar measures across Government, make a real difference in our society.”
Notes
In total, 56 different measures, to the value of €46.97 million will be supported under the 2026 Action Plan. A full list of measures to be funded under the 2026 Dormant Accounts Fund Action Plan is set out in the table below.
Many measures have been funded in previous Action Plans and have now been approved for continued funding in 2026 to enable the measures to operate again next year. The majority of approved measures will progress in 2026, with each Government Department responsible for delivery of their own measures. Measures can progress over a number of years with funding drawn down from the Fund as spending is incurred.
Some examples of measures approved for funding include:
- €10 million for investment and actions aimed at improving participation in sports in disadvantage communities and for persons with disabilities.
- €3 million for transitioning people from long term-term homeless into supported tenancies.
- €3 million for youth and community justice services aimed at countering the influence and impacts of crime on young people and in communities.
- €2 million to support social enterprises to address social and economic disadvantage
- €1.4 million for a youth and family initiatives to provide young people with the soft skills needed to improve employability.
This Action Plan builds on previous plans and ensures continued support for individuals and organisations right across the country. Funding under the 2026 Action Plan has increased by 4.8% from 2025.
Background to the Dormant Accounts Fund
The Dormant Accounts Acts 2001-2012, together with the Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Act 2003, provide a framework for the administration of unclaimed accounts in credit institutions (i.e. banks, building societies and An Post) and unclaimed life assurance policies in insurance undertakings.
The main purpose of the legislation is to reunite account or policy holders with their funds in credit institutions or insurance undertakings and in this regard, these bodies are required to take steps to identify and contact the owners of dormant accounts and unclaimed life assurance policies.
However, in order to utilise the unused funds the legislation also introduced a scheme for the disbursement of funds that are unlikely to be reclaimed from dormant accounts and unclaimed policies for the purposes of measures to assist:
- the personal and social development of persons who are economically or socially disadvantaged;
- the educational development of persons who are educationally disadvantaged or
- persons with a disability.
Summary Table of Dormant Accounts Fund Action Plan
The following table provides a summary of measures and allocated funding under the Action Plan 2026 to each relevant Government Department. Full details are available within the Action Plan itself.
|
Lead Department/Agency |
No. |
Description |
Max Allocation |
|
Department of Rural & Community Development and the Gaeltacht |
1 |
Social Enterprise Measure |
2,000,000 |
| 2 |
Senior Alerts Scheme |
2,100,000 |
|
| 3 |
Targeted Social Inclusion |
779,930 |
|
| 4 |
Libraries-Skills for Life Initiative |
150,000 |
|
| 5 |
Rethink Ireland |
4,000,000 |
|
|
|
6 |
National Philanthropy Policy 2024-2028 |
1,500,000 |
|
Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage |
7 |
Housing First |
3,000,000 |
| 8 |
Traveller Accommodation |
620,000 |
|
|
Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration |
9 |
Youth and Community Justice Services |
3,000,000 |
| 10 |
Community Organisations – Criminal Justice Sector |
300,000 |
|
| 11 |
Measures to support paths for Young people leaving detention or custody |
521,000 |
|
| 12 |
Ballyfermot and Cherry Orchard funding |
480,000 |
|
| 13 |
Community Based Health in Justice |
455,648 |
|
| 14 |
Resources to inform and support children and those with literacy or language barriers to navigate family justice processes |
720,000 |
|
| 15 |
Peer Mentoring – Criminal Justice Sector |
360,000 |
|
| 16 |
Cuan’s preventative and protection work under the Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (DSGBV) |
1,500,000 |
|
| 17 |
Ballymun Implementation Board (BIB) |
200,000 |
|
|
Department of Social Protection |
18 |
Family Carer Measure - Supporting Family Carers including Young Carers, & Former Carers to access employment and/or training and education supports |
1,000,000 |
|
Department of Children, Disability and Equality
|
19 |
Care Support for Vulnerable in Society |
1,720,000 |
| 20 |
Oberstown Detention Campus Training Initiatives |
285,000 |
|
| 21 |
Traveller and/or Roma Community Initiatives |
1,344,000 |
|
| 22 |
Youth and/or Family Initiatives |
1,413,900 |
|
| 23 |
Disability Awareness Initiative |
736,380 |
|
|
Department of Education and Youth
|
24 |
SEN learners transitions Pilot |
400,000 |
| 25 |
Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) |
300,000 |
|
| 26 |
Young Social Innovators |
120,000 |
|
| 27 |
Time To Count |
20,000 |
|
| 28 |
Experience Glasnevin |
30,000 |
|
| 29 |
The B!G Idea |
136,000 |
|
| 30 |
Roll out of City Connects NEIC sites |
700,000 |
|
| 31 |
Saibhriú- Empowering learners with advanced abilities |
150,000 |
|
| 32 |
Foróige-Leadership for Life Programme |
270,000 |
|
| 33 |
St Agnes’ Community Centre for Music and the Arts |
45,000 |
|
| 34 |
Anseo – An Actionable Attendance Tool for Schools |
544,346 |
|
| 35 |
Towards Inclusion |
150,000 |
|
| 36 |
Foróige – Digital Youth Work Programme |
150,203 |
|
| 37 |
Foróige – Online Safety Programme |
160,267 |
|
| 38 |
Supporting children and young people through GAA |
100,000 |
|
| 39 |
The Health Alliance for Practice-based Professional Education and Engagement (HAPPEE) Project |
130,000 |
|
| 40 |
Home visiting to support transitions to primary schools - DEIS Plus |
100,000 |
|
| 41 |
Dun Laoghaire ETB (DDLETB) |
405,000 |
|
| 42 |
National Youth Council of Ireland – Skills Summary Project |
110,000 |
|
| 43 |
Target educational disadvantage among children and young people from the Traveller and Roma community |
47,500 |
|
|
|
44 |
To promote school attendance, participation and retention |
371,143 |
|
Department of Defence |
45 |
Upgrading of the Civil Defence Fleet of Vehicle and Boat Fleet |
400,000 |
| 46 |
Dormant Accounts funding to Veterans Associations |
200,000 |
|
|
|
47 |
Sail Training Ireland |
50,000 |
|
Department of Culture, Communications and Sport |
48 |
Community Sport and Physical Activity Hubs |
1,354,000 |
| 49 |
National Sport Education and Training Hub |
1,950,000 |
|
| 50 |
Sports Measures for Disadvantaged Communities to Support the National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP) |
6,696,000 |
|
|
Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
|
51 |
Traveller Apprenticeship Incentivisation Programme and Care Leavers Apprenticeship Incentivisation Programme |
360,000 |
| 52 |
Student Accommodation Bursary for Traveller, Roma Communities and Care Leavers |
500,000 |
|
| 53 |
Financial supports for learners on the P-TECH DABs Tertiary Degree Programme |
602,500 |
|
|
Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment |
54 |
Balance for Better Business |
243,512 |
|
Department of Health |
55 |
Improve access to healthcare services for the Roma population across all six HSE health regions |
860,000 |
| 56 |
Ballymun Multidisciplinary School Team |
1,125,000 |
|
|
TOTAL: |
|
|
€46,966,329 |