Fury as just 20% of local refugee fund spent
AONTÚ leader Peadar Tóibín has described the spending of just 20% of the Community Recognition Fund as representing ‘a grossly inadequate level of expenditure’.
The fund was announced in 2022 and is aimed at rewarding communities that take in a large number of refugees.
As 35% of voters say they are now prepared to vote for an anti-immigration party there are plans to double the fund as part of the response to this.
In the same Ireland Thinks poll, 54% of the voters said they would accept a refugee centre in their communities if it came with improved amenities attached.
However, responding to questions from Mr Tóibín, Rural and Community Affairs Minister Heather Humphreys revealed just a fifth of the fund has been spent.
She said: ‘The Community Recognition Fund recognises the huge efforts made by communities in welcoming and supporting people coming to Ireland. Funding of €50million for some 900 projects is supporting towns and villages nationwide that have welcomed people from Ukraine and other countries. The fund aims to support the development of facilities that will be used in the future by all members of the community. ‘And 381 projects have submitted a partial or final drawdown claim, of which some 200 of these projects are now complete. To date, €10.2million in project costs has been drawn down.’ However, Mr Tóibín noted: ‘This fund has Heather Humphreys written all over it. It was announced in 2022, re-announced and reheated a number of times since. The fund was supposed to be for 900 projects but only 200 projects are complete – and only a fifth of the funding has been paid out.
‘The minister has furnished me with a list of projects funded through the scheme, and while some of the projects may be worthwhile, most of it amounts to tokenistic fluff – new picnic benches, a bit of grass seed for public parks and so on.
‘These communities need extra GPs, school extensions and teachers, public transport links, they need more housing. But what they are getting is picnic benches and landscaping.
‘There is no excuse for not spending the full €50million,’ he added.