Minister O’Brien announces funding of €20.8 million for the community and voluntary sector

• the Scheme to Support National Organisations 2022-2025 provides multi-annual core funding
• 81 national community and voluntary organisations will be funded under the Scheme
• €20.8 million will be awarded over the 3-year period

Minister of State for Community Development and Charities, Joe O’Brien, today announced funding of €20.8 million over the coming 3 years to 81 national community and voluntary organisations.

The funding is under a new round of the Scheme to Support National Organisations and will run for a period of 3 years, until mid-2025.

At €20.8 million over the lifetime of the scheme, the funding is in excess of €2 million of the €18.8 million awarded under the 2019-2022 Scheme.

This new round also sees an increase in organisations funded with 81 organisations announced today, in comparison to 74 organisations awarded under the 2019-2022 Scheme.

The Minister was impressed by the high quality applications that were received for funding under the Scheme and was keen to make funding available to as many organisations, across as many categories, as possible.

Announcing the funding, Minister O’Brien said:

Applications were invited from community and voluntary organisations that operate at a national level with evidence of a nationwide membership.

The allocation of funding was largely based on evidence of need and value for money. This was to ensure that the funds were allocated to the organisations where they are most needed and to make the maximum contribution to the community and voluntary sector.

The SSNO provides multi-annual funding towards core costs of national organisations in the community and voluntary sector, to assist them to operate and fund core staff positions, administration and ongoing running expenses.

The Minister added:

The Scheme to Support National Organisations (SSNO) is administered by Pobal on behalf of the Department of Rural and Community Development.

The overall aim of the SSNO in the Community and Voluntary Sector 2022-2025 is to provide multi-annual funding towards the core costs of national organisations to assist them to operate and fund core staff positions. The primary focus is to provide core funding to national organisations who provide services and supports focusing on social exclusion, addressing poverty or promoting equality.

The application process for the new round of funding generated significant interest with 231 applications received by the closing date with a total ask of €46.5 million.

Applications are independently appraised by Pobal to ensure transparency, fairness and due process. The criteria for appraisal, as outlined in the application process, is across the following 5 areas:

• national remit
• governance
• value for money
• need
• meeting the programme requirements

The National Organisations allocated funding under the Scheme to Support National Organisations 2022-2025 are as follows: