Notes on above figures:
• Figures for 2007-2009 refer to the Community Development Programme and the Local Development Social Inclusion Programme (combined).
• These programmes were amalgamated into the Local Community Development Programme (which operated between 2010 and April 2015).
• This programme evolved into the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) that has operated since 2015.
The Irish Local Development Network calls for the new programme for government to embody equality, inclusiveness, and effective partnership between the State, the local development sector, and the broader community and voluntary (C&V) Sector.
With regards to the C&V and local development sectors it wants the next government to:
(A) Establish a sustainable funding model for local development companies that is built on adequate, multi-annual funding, that facilitates long-range planning and capacity-building, and that ensures that a space for autonomous community development is preserved.
(B) Fully reverse the cuts in funding for the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP), which is Ireland’s flagship programme for combatting poverty and social exclusion at a local level, which took effect during the years of economic austerity. See Appendix 1 for an overview of SICAP cuts.
(C) Review the methods through which Government commissions the services of the local development and C&V sectors (principally competitive tendering) and the impact of these commissioning models on the sustainability of the sector and the quality of outcomes.
(D) Commit to developing a successor to the Strategy for the Community and Voluntary Sector 2019-2024, and to resourcing that strategy to deliver on commitments.
(E) Commit to making Ireland’s social economy, and its support structure for social enterprises, the most innovative, vibrant, and robust in Europe.
