1184. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Justice the total amount of funding provided by her Department to community safety innovations; and to provide a breakdown of the funding provided in the Dublin 9 and Dublin 11 areas since 2020. [35463/24]

Helen McEntee, Minister for Justice: As the Deputy will be aware, my Department established the Community Safety Innovation Fund in 2021. The fund uses the money seized by An Garda Síochána and the Criminal Assets Bureau as the proceeds of crime to fund new, innovative community safety projects. The fund increased from €2 million in 2022 to €3 million last year and I was delighted to see it increase again to €3.75 million in Budget 2024. 22 successful projects received funding in 2022 and a further 30 projects received funding in 2023.

The closing date for applications this year was 26 July 2024. Applications for the 2024 fund are currently being considered by officials in my Department and I look forward to seeing the projects that will emerge from this new round of funding.

Under the CSIF 2023, applications were invited from existing community safety initiatives as well as groups co-funded with local authorities, NGOs and community organisations working on issues relevant to community safety and youth justice. Applications could also be submitted by individual organisations, or by a consortium involving two or more organisations where the lead partner is a community organisation, not-for-profit, social enterprise or similar with a remit relevant to community safety and/or youth justice.

There have been two successful projects  funded in Dublin 9 and Dublin 11 to date. In 2022, the Ballymun Local Drugs Task Force received €120,000 for the ‘Base Bus’ project. It aims to redefine places of anti-social behaviour into more positive social environments by providing early intervention and preventative action in open drug use, street drinking, intimidation and encouraging positive interaction between older community members, young people and families. It involves the purchase and outfitting of a bus for a mobile access project which will enable enhanced outreach, presence and coverage at evenings and weekends as well as increased capability to engage with individuals and trust building activities.

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