New Solutions Social Innovation Fund – creating better outcomes

The New Solutions Social Innovation Fund aims to enhance the social innovation ecosystem in Ireland. It is co-funded through the European Social Fund + 2021-2027 (ESF+), a European initiative aimed at reducing the risk of poverty and social exclusion, with an emphasis on disadvantaged groups.

The overarching objective for New Solutions is to enhance the social innovation ecosystem in Ireland by ‘fostering active inclusion, promoting equal opportunities, non-discrimination and active participation, and to improve employability, for disadvantaged groups including through the social enterprise business model.’

The objective of the fund has been broken down further as follows:

These objectives will be achieved by supporting the establishment of a Social Innovation Hub, which will further develop the social innovation ecosystem by providing capacity building supports, along with the provision of grants to social innovations at Pilot and Scaling stage as well as introducing a mechanism for exploring potential new social innovations.

New Solutions is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Social Fund + as part of the Employment, Inclusion, Skills And Training Programme 2021-2027

A total of €9.8 million has been committed to the New Solutions Social Innovation Fund.

The New Solutions Social Innovation Hub (‘the Hub’) will play a key role in developing the social innovation ecosystem in Ireland. The Hub will serve a number of functions including the provision of capacity building and bespoke support measures to social innovation initiatives receiving grant funding, including social enterprises.

The Hub was officially launched by Minister of State with responsibility for Community Development and Charities, Jerry Buttimer TD in Nemo Rangers GAA Club in Cork City on the 3rd November 2025.

The Hub has been established by a consortium led by ReThink Ireland, and including The Wheel, Local Development Companies Network, Údarás na Gaeltachta, Western Development Commission and Dublin City University. This consortium will work collaboratively to deliver the support measures, not just to the New Solutions Scaling Grantees, but to the wider social innovation sector in Ireland.

A user-friendly New Solutions Social Innovation Hub website will be launched in 2026 that will serve as a comprehensive digital resource for social innovators.

Pobal, on behalf of the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, launched a call for applications to the New Solutions Scaling Grants on 16th June 2025. The call closed on the 25th July 2025.

The objective of the Scaling Grants under New Solutions is to fund social innovation initiatives that are ready to grow and achieve greater impact, and which fall under at least one of the following social inclusion themes:

1. Increasing access to employment for disadvantaged groups who are distant from the labour market;
2. Increasing access to education for disadvantaged groups;
3. Personal and social development of young people most at risk of poverty and social exclusion;
4. Harnessing the potential of sport for social development and social inclusion of disadvantaged groups

Applicants were also required to describe their approach to scaling using either Localised Growth or Branching techniques.

• Localised Growth refers to when a social innovation grows in its original location by offering new services to its target group or adapting its services for a new group or a greater number of beneficiaries.
• Branching refers to where a social innovation owner brings that innovation to a new location to meet local demand.

Applicants were eligible to apply for a minimum of €250,000 to a maximum of €300,000 in funding under this call and were required to provide match-funding of a minimum of 10% of the grant amount requested.

The successful grantees were announced by Minister of State with responsibility for Community Development and Charities, Jerry Buttimer TD on 3rd November 2025.

A list of the successful grantees under the New Solutions Scaling Grants call can be found as follows:

Future Calls under New Solutions

A further funding call will be launched by the Hub for Social Innovation Pilot projects in 2026. This call will be aimed at social innovations who want to pilot an idea that seeks to tackle social challenges in Ireland.

New Solutions is part of the Social Innovation Priority of the ESF+ EIST programme 2021-2027, which is made out of 3 strands:

1. The New Solution Social Innovation Fund – creating better outcomes, which aims to enhance the social innovation ecosystem in Ireland.

This Programme is implemented by the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht.

2. The Achieve Together Social Innovation Coaching and Mentoring Programme initiative, where a target of 225 of the organisations being supported by the Community Services Programme, will receive a tailored coaching/mentoring/training programme to address individual social innovation needs.

This Programme is implemented by the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht.

Further details are available here: Community Services Programme

3. The Sport Ireland ESF+ programme Sport 4 Empowerment (S4E) that implements socially innovative programmes, using sport and physical activity, to foster social inclusion and enhance the wellbeing, education, and economic prospects of people at risk of social exclusion.

The Sport for Empowerment (S4E) programme is implemented by Sport Ireland.

Further information is available here: Sport Ireland - ESF+ Programme