Minister Ring Announces €800,000 in Grants to Assist Social Enterprises
Michael Ring, T.D., Minister for Rural and Community Development, today (2 September 2019) announced a call for applications from national, regional or local organisations and statutory bodies or institutions to deliver tailored training to new and existing social enterprises. Funding of €800,000 will be made available from the Social Enterprise Measure of the Dormant Accounts Fund (DAF) and is aimed at developing capacity building for social enterprises in Ireland, particularly in relation to enterprise development.
Following on from the launch of the government's new National Social Enterprise Policy in July, the aim of the Social Enterprise measure, which is overseen by the Department of Rural and Community Development and administered by Pobal, is to increase the impact of social enterprises by enhancing their capacity to deliver services and generate trade income through the provision of tailored supports.
Applications for the delivery of training and mentoring to social enterprises are being invited from organisations to enable growth and improve sustainability and to increase social, societal and environmental impact. Application forms and guidance will be available on Monday, 9 September 2019 at: https://www.pobal.ie/programmes/dormant-accounts-fund-daf/
Making the announcement, Minister Ring said:
“One of the key messages which my Department has consistently heard from social enterprises is that they want more access to training and mentoring to help them strengthen their business model and improve their capacity to deliver a social impact.
“The National Social Enterprise Policy, which I launched last month, includes a commitment to deliver supports to social enterprises in areas such as business planning, mentoring, leadership, governance, capacity building, financial planning and digital innovation.
“I am delighted to be in a position today to announce the allocation of €800,000 from the Dormant Accounts Fund to pilot this training initiative and deliver on the commitment made in the National Social Enterprise Policy. Up to 300 participants are likely to benefit from these supports over the next year.”
The closing date for receipt of applications is 3pm on Monday, 30 September 2019.
Further information is available on our Dormant Accounts Fund programme page here: https://www.pobal.ie/programmes/dormant-accounts-fund-daf/
The full announcement by Michael Ring, T.D., Minister for Rural and Community Development can be read here.