Finance and resources

Three submissions (DoF, Pobal, staff member 7) made Department-level recommendations regarding the sourcing and use of finance and resources. The DoF called for the SoS to take into account the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath on the economy. Staff member 7 recommended that the SoS include a reference to the administrative time and resource commitment afforded to “historic matters”, such as “historic issues around adoption”. This staff member suggested that this work remains “outside of the current SoS”. Pobal suggested that the ESF+ 2021-2027 and newly available cohesion policy funds, such as REACT-EU, could provide

“an opportunity to both extend and to expand the range of programme supports co-financed by the Department”. They highlighted that the European Commission recommended that EU funding in Ireland “should tackle child poverty, improve the employment rate of people with disabilities, and promote women’s labour market participation through access to affordable, high quality childcare addressing the risk of the digital divide”. Pobal also mentioned some of the “practical challenges associated with implementation of new simplification measures to programme EU funds, including a need to further upskill beneficiaries”, and the need for additional expertise to maximise the benefits for under-represented and seldom heard groups.