Community development funding for Donegal has more than halved in the past ten years.
The situation has been slammed by Donegal Sinn Féin Senator Pádraig Mac Lochlainn.
In a series of responses to parliamentary questions from Sinn Féin, it was revealed that total funding in Donegal has fallen from €4,313,917 in 2008 to €2,008,916 in 2018.
Senator Mac Lochlainn said these are programmes which are instrumental in reducing poverty and improving the opportunities of those who are marginalised in society.
He said Minister Ring has acknowledged the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) as “a key intervention for disadvantaged communities.
“There are few counties in Ireland enduring worse social and economic disadvantage levels than Donegal so why is our funding still on the floor. How can this Government and the previous two Governments, have allowed our funding to be more than halved over the last ten years?
“The aim of SICAP is to reduce poverty and promote social inclusion and equality through local, regional and national engagement and collaboration. Its vision is to improve the life chances and opportunities of those who are marginalised in society, living in poverty or in unemployment. It is simply unacceptable that Fine Gael has seen fit to slash these vital supports.
“This follows Fine Gael’s record for neglecting marginalised groups. Leader funding was reduced on the sly by Fine Gael last year by €10 million. This is further funding which is pivotal in providing local communities the resources they need to develop their areas.
“I note that the name of these funding programmes regularly change – the current Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) succeeded LCDPs, which superseded the LDSIP and the Community Development Programme. This continual change of name arguably helps to hide the extent of the decreases in funding.”
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