Minister Buttimer publishes the Dormant Accounts Fund Annual Report 2024
-
From: Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht
- Published on: 26 June 2025
- Last updated on: 26 June 2025
- €44.8 million spent in 2024 to help address disadvantage
Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht Jerry Buttimer, today (26th June 2025) published the 2024 Dormant Accounts Fund Annual Report.
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 2024 Annual Report details that expenditure on Dormant Accounts measures over the year amounted to €44.8 million across 12 Government Departments.
Three case studies of measures supported in 2024 are included in the report;
Cycling Ireland – Adaptive Mountain Bike Project (AMTB) - Through the Dormant Accounts Fund, Cycling Ireland purchased 5 AMTB’s. These bikes were assembled on the Sport Ireland Campus with the help of both able-bodied volunteers and wheelchair users keen to be involved. The bikes provide wheelchair users with the opportunity to attend trail centres and receive training at all levels.
- The Great Care Cooperative (GCC) - The Dormant Accounts Fund provided funding through Rethink Ireland to “The Great Care Cooperative”. GCC is a non-profit social enterprise with the mission of providing great care and great jobs using an equality framework. It supports marginalised women working in care to access decent employment by making them co-owners. GCC’s model brings carers into leadership and decision-making roles. It reinvests all profits in employee pay, pensions, and training, which directly improves the quality of elderly care.
- Traveller and Roma Education Community Development Worker Scheme (ECDW) -The ECDW scheme has been developed to address the educational inequality experienced by Travellers and Roma, particularly in relation to attendance, participation, and retention, and to address the effects of, and fallout from, the Covid-19 pandemic as concerns Traveller and Roma children and young people in education.
Dormant Account Funding has been used to employ dedicated ECDWs who work in co-operation with local Traveller and Roma communities, primary and post-primary schools, and any other service providers that can contribute to improving educational outcomes for children and young people from the Traveller and Roma communities. In 2024, there were 12 ECDWs working in 10 locations across the State, with the majority of these workers being from the Traveller community.
Publishing the Annual Report today, Minister Buttimer said:
“I am delighted to publish the Dormant Accounts Fund Annual Report 2024 which shows that funding of over €44 million was provided in 2024 to help address disadvantage right across Ireland. The 51 measures included in the report were implemented across Government and have helped to address a diverse range of issues such as providing programmes to support children and youths; people with disabilities; carers; and marginalised groups such as the Traveller and Roma Community.”
The Minister continued:
“Dormant Accounts funding makes a real difference to individuals and communities right across the country. It is helping vulnerable individuals, supporting social inclusion, and strengthening our communities. It is making a real difference to people’s lives and will have long lasting positive impacts.”
Minister Dara Calleary noted:
“I welcome the publication of the 2024 Dormant Accounts Annual Report which outlines how over €44 million in funding was delivered last year. Within the Department, €11.64 million was utilised for measures such as the Senior Alerts Scheme, Social Enterprise, Targeted Social Inclusion Measures and Library Supports. These supports would not be possible without the Dormant Accounts Fund and it is helping to support social inclusion in communities right across the country.”
Notes:
Total expenditure from Dormant Account Fund in 2024 was €44.8m for 51 measures across 12 Departments. The Annual Report provides information on these measures and also detailed three case studies of measures/projects funding in 2024.
Expenditure occurred across a range of Departments, funding measures to support children and youths; prisoners; carers; victims of crime; homelessness; and marginalised groups such as the Traveller and Roma Community.
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 Annual Report 2024
The following table provides a summary of measures and funding provided in 2024 to each relevant Government Department. Full details are within the Annual Report itself.
|
No. |
Government Department |
Measure |
Disbursed from DAF in 2024 |
|
1 |
D/Rural & Community Development |
Social Enterprise Measure |
2,000,000 |
|
2 |
D/Rural & Community Development |
Senior Alerts Scheme |
2,700,000 |
|
3 |
D/Rural & Community Development |
Targeted Social Inclusion |
878,497 |
|
4 |
D/Rural & Community Development |
Promotion of Library Membership to Disadvantaged Groups |
560,780 |
|
5 |
D/Rural & Community Development |
Rethink Ireland |
5,500,000 |
|
6 |
Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage |
Housing First |
3,000,000 |
|
7 |
Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage |
Traveller Accommodation |
419,942 |
|
8 |
Department of Justice |
Drogheda Implementation Plan Year 3 |
145,284 |
|
9 |
Department of Justice |
Youth and Community Justice Services |
4,159,734 |
|
10 |
Department of Justice |
Awareness Campaigns on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence and Victim Rights |
1,132,963 |
|
11 |
Department of Justice |
Community Organisations - Criminal Justice Sector |
357,000 |
|
12 |
Department of Justice |
Probations Service: Social Enterprise Funding Kickstart Round Three: Expanded funding model
|
21,250 |
|
13 |
Department of Justice |
Probations Service: KickStart Fund Round Four |
81,250 |
|
14 |
Department of Justice |
Consent programme for the Further Education and Training sector |
189,000 |
|
15 |
Department of Justice |
Community Based Health in Justice |
385,909 |
|
16 |
Department of Social Protection |
Family Carer Measure- Supporting Family Carers including Young Carers, & Former Carers to access employment and/or training and education supports. |
598,550 |
|
17 |
Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth |
Care Support for Vulnerable in Society |
1,226,453 |
|
18 |
Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth |
Oberstown Detention Campus Training Initiatives |
347,500 |
|
19 |
Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth |
Traveller and/or Roma Community Initiatives |
1,905,112 |
|
20 |
Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth |
Youth and/or Family Initiatives |
3,023,584 |
|
21 |
Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth |
Babies and/or Young Children |
302,364 |
|
22 |
Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth |
Disability Awareness Initiative |
171,120 |
|
23 |
Department of Education |
Towards Inclusion |
32,311 |
|
24 |
Department of Education |
Time to Count numeracy support for children |
20,000 |
|
25 |
Department of Education |
Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) |
300,000 |
|
26 |
Department of Education |
The Big Idea TY Programme |
200,000 |
|
27 |
Department of Education |
School Completion Programme for children seeking international protection |
200,000 |
|
28 |
Department of Education |
Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) Co-ordinators |
790,000 |
|
29 |
Department of Education |
Glasnevin Trust Transportations |
20,000 |
|
30 |
Department of Education |
Update, Reproduce and launch School Avoidance Packs for all schools |
14,000 |
|
31 |
Department of Education |
Strengthening School Transitions and Attendance for Children and Young People |
107,000 |
|
32 |
Department of Education |
Enhancing educational outcomes for children and young people from the Traveller and Roma communities |
180,000 |
|
33 |
Department of Education |
School enrichment project supporting children in school transition |
50,000 |
|
34 |
Department of Education |
CDETB Migrant Integration |
120,000 |
|
35 |
Department of Education |
Project to address economic and educational disadvantage being experienced by a cohort of 2nd level students in 4 Non – DEIS Schools in *North East region |
146,760 |
|
36 |
Department of Education |
Provision of interim transport support for children experiencing homelessness |
20,000 |
|
37 |
Department of Education |
Bespoke webinars for LGBTI+ |
20,000 |
|
38 |
Department of Education |
SEN learners transitions Pilot |
500,000 |
|
39 |
Department of Education |
Young Social Innovators |
180,000 |
|
40 |
Department of Defence |
Upgrading of the Civil Defence Fleet of Vehicles and Boats |
378,589 |
|
41 |
Department of Defence |
Dormant Accounts funding to Veterans Associations |
44,345 |
|
42 |
Department of Defence |
Sail Training Ireland |
50,000 |
|
43 |
Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media |
Community Sport and Physical Activity Hubs |
1,842,500 |
|
44 |
Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media |
National Sport Education and Training Hub |
1,877,500 |
|
45 |
Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media |
Sports Measures for Disadvantaged Communities to Support the National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP) |
6,780,000 |
|
46 |
D/Further and Higher Education, Research and Innovation and Science |
Traveller Apprenticeship Incentivisation Programme |
450,000 |
|
47 |
D/Further and Higher Education, Research and Innovation and Science |
Care Leavers Bursary |
100,000 |
|
48 |
D/Further and Higher Education, Research and Innovation and Science |
Student Accommodation Bursary for Traveller and Roma Communities |
390,000 |
|
49 |
Department of Health |
Pilot rollout of the carer's needs assessment tool |
710,000 |
|
50 |
D/Enterprise, Trade & Employment |
Balance for Better Business |
201,250 |
|
51 |
D/Environment, Climate and Communications |
Targeted anglers with a disability or restricted mobility measure |
40,000 |
|
Total |
|
|
44,870,505 |