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Preasráitis

Minister Joe O’Brien visits community initiatives in Wexford

  • Two day visit an opportunity to see community development projects in the South East

Joe O’Brien TD, Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development & Department of Social Protection visited projects and community initiatives supported by his Departments in Co Wexford on Tuesday (7th) and Wednesday (8th) of September.

The Minister’s visit started in Rosslare Community & Sports Centre where he met local community workers, he then went on to Rosslare Accommodation Centre where he met with staff and residents.

Speaking after his visit to the accommodation centre the Minister said:

“The Wexford Local Development social inclusion team have fostered good relations between the local community in Rosslare and the residents of the centre.

“The support available through the Social Inclusion Programme (SICAP) and Tús has resulted in the forming of friendships and the planning of projects that will support further integration.

“It is clear from what I have seen during my visit that there are huge positives for international protection accommodation residents and locals when integration is handled as well as it has been here in Rosslare.”

The Minister then went on to visit;

  • Rosslare Harbour / Kilrane Environment Group;
  • Kilrane / Rosslare Harbour Men’s Shed;
  • Wexford Local Development’s Cornmarket Project;
  • Wexford Volunteer Centre;
  • Southend Family Resource Centre & Sail Training Centre; and
  • The Rocks Walking Trail in Maudlintown

The following day (Wednesday) the Minister visited Fab Lab and Community Meals on Wheels in Enniscorthy.

He then went on to visit a local tillage farm to see how farmers are working with Teagasc on the Signpost Programme. The primary objective of the programme is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 15% by 2025 on the Signpost Farms and by 2030 for all farms.

Later in the day the Minister went on to visit;

  • Community projects in Ferns Village,
  • Kilcannon Garden Centre, a social enterprise that provides employment opportunities for people with disabilities; and
  • Fresh Today, Wexford, a catering company supplying over 10,000 school lunches daily to over 80 DEIS schools in the south east region.

The Minister’s two-day visit concluded with a visit to Riverchapel Community Complex a multi-faceted community resource in the Courtown area.

Speaking about his visit to Wexford, Minister O’Brien said:

“It has been great to visit Wexford and see first-hand the great work that communities are carrying out with the support of the Departments of Rural and Community Development and Social Protection and with broader Government support.”

“One job of Government is to support communities so that they can develop to become vibrant and inclusive. The projects I visited are indicative of the resourcefulness of local communities in identifying an issue and developing a plan to address it and enhance all aspects of the community.”

ENDS

Note to photo desks

Photography from these events will be available from Brownes Photography

Notes to editor

CE and TUS

Community Employment and Tús schemes are employment support measures for long-term unemployed people and other people in receipt of long-term payments from the Department of Social Protection.

The schemes employ participants to deliver a range of services to local communities throughout the country. These include local amenities management, environmental projects, arts and culture, sports, childcare, Tidy Towns, health-related services, meals on wheels and drug rehabilitation schemes.

SICAP

SICAP assists both individuals and groups through a two-pronged approach; supporting communities and supporting individuals. SICAP target groups include; children and families living in disadvantaged areas, lone parents, new communities (including refugees/asylum seekers), people living in disadvantaged communities, people with disabilities, Roma, the unemployed (including those not on the Live Register), travellers, and young unemployed people living in disadvantaged areas

Farmers for Climate Action

The Signpost Programme–Farmers for Climate Action, is a Teagasc led initiative. It is a partnership of almost 40 companies and organisations from the Irish agri-food sector, along with Irish farmers, that have come together for climate action, to meet the challenge of climate change.

DEIS School Meals Programme

The School Meals Programme provides funding towards provision of food services for disadvantaged school children through two schemes:

  • The statutory Urban School Meals Scheme for primary schools is operated by local authorities and part-financed by the Department of Social Protection
  • The non-statutory School Meals Local Projects Scheme provides funding directly from the Department of Social Protection to primary schools, secondary schools and local groups and voluntary organisations which operate their own school meals projects.

Priority for funding is given to schools which are part of the Department of Education’s initiative for disadvantaged schools, ‘Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools’ (DEIS).