Policy information
The Community Services Programme
From Department of Rural and Community Development
Published on
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The Community Services Programme (CSP) currently supports community -based organisations to provide local social, economic and environmental services through a social enterprise model and create employment opportunities for disadvantaged people.
It offers financial support to assist with the cost of hiring staff to community companies and co-operatives.
Funding is provided to community organisations as a fixed contribution towards the cost of employing a manager and/or an agreed number of full-time equivalent position (FTEs). The programme provides €19,033 for every FTE and €32,000 per manager working a 39-hour week. More than €47 million was allocated in 2020, supporting about 1,703 FTEs and 321 managers in 418 organisations.
As a result of the COVID-19 crisis the Department developed an additional 2020 Support Fund to assist CSP supported organisations to continue to retain their CSP supported employees. The funding was providing an additional once off payment, to assist with staffing costs, to cover a 12 week period from 26th March 2020 ensuring that they can pay their full time CSP supported employees a maximum of €350 net per week, with a proportionate amount for part time CSP supported employees.
Applicants must be not-for-profit social enterprises or businesses with sufficient capacity to undertake service delivery and management of staff.
They must also have sufficient financial resources and ability to generate adequate revenue and prepare a business plan.
There are three main types of projects funded under the Community Services Programme:
- community services for disadvantaged people (example: home insulation, disability transport, meals-on-wheels centre based day care, social activities, personal security, visitation services, community radio and other forms of community media)
- community enterprises employing people distant from the labour market including people with disabilities, Travellers, recovering drug misusers and/or ex-prisoners; the employing company or co-op must operate as a social enterprise and demonstrate some form of progression of the workers
- community halls and facilities available for community use, including halls and facilities which enable the day-to-day operation of community infrastructure
To qualify under the CSP you must be a social enterprise capable to generating income from your service. 70% of employees funded under the programme must be from one of the following groups:
- unemployed people in receipt of Jobseeker’s Benefit, Jobseeker’s Allowance or One-Parent Family Payment
- Travellers in receipt of Jobseeker’s Benefit, Jobseeker’s Allowance or One-Parent Family Payment
- people in receipt of Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension or Blind Person’s Pension or other disability payment
- ex-prisoners
- stabilised and recovering drug misusers
- people employed from Tús, Community Employment (CE), Job Initiative schemes, as well as Rural Social Scheme workers who are former CE participants
Further information is available on the Pobal website.
Public consultation on the scope of the independent review of the Community Services Programme was conducted during late 2018 and feedback from the submissions received informed the Terms of Reference for the review.
Indecon International Economic Consultants were engaged to carry out the independent review which commenced in March 2019. Indecon undertook extensive stakeholder engagement with CSP supported organisations, CSP supported employees, Government Departments, Agencies and National Community and Voluntary organisations.
The Report sets out eleven key recommendations that the Department and Pobal, who administer the programme on behalf of the Department, will use to assist with the re-structuring of the programme. A High level Action Plan, prepared by the Department and Pobal accompanies the Indecon Report and sets out the proposed timeline for delivery of each phase.
