LABOUR councillor Conor Sheehan is calling on the Government to ensure the continuation of vital Social Intervention Funding in Regeneration communities after 2023.
Cllr Sheehan brought a motion to the July meeting of Limerick City and County Council calling on the Government to extend the Social Intervention Fund beyond the end of 2023 to ensure the continued funding of all Regeneration projects into the future.
“European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) funded organisations deliver targeted services to Limerick’s most disadvantaged areas and in 2023 close to 200 projects have secured €4million in financial support from the fund. These projects include everything from Covid catch up initiatives in primary schools to community busses, residents forums, and vital family support work,” the City North representative explained.
“Regeneration is due to end this year and, as we await the preparation of an expert report to seek funding beyond that date, it is vital that Government step in and ensure that ESIF-funded projects are funded beyond 2023.
“These communities have come so far and while some have undoubtedly advanced further than others, they must not be allowed to fall behind again. ESIF funding is a relatively small amount of money on the grand scale of things, yet has and will deliver positive outcomes if continued.”
Cllr Sheehan took the view that the loss of this fund is deeply worrying and could see these communities slide back into an even greater cycle of exclusion and disenfranchisement.
“In the absence of a national urban social inclusion policy, a post-2023 ESIF funding stream presents us with an opportunity to build on and refine the successes of the programme to date.
“With strategically targeted investment and robust implementation structures, Limerick City could become a model for how a local authority can manage urban social inclusion activities. With a post-2023 urban regeneration social fund, the city could support innovation in the field, identify gaps in national policy and funding frameworks, and develop solutions to problems that fall between the cracks.
“Given the progress we have made in these communities, albeit starting from a very low baseline, it is an absolute imperative that this funding stream remains in place to support the ongoing work of the regeneration programme across the city,” he concluded.
