General Municipal Allocation 2020

from Budget Report 2020

Appendix 3 Section 135 Report - Capital Programme 2020-2022

• €245k: The development and operation of the Digital Hub facilities in the county has progressed further in 2019 with the opening of a Digital Hub and Incubation facility for Economic Development, imminent in Ennistymon.

This brings to four the number of council provided facilities. In addition the council acquired and adapted a f acility on Bindon Street in Ennis to accommodate Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) in developing its third level education facility in Ennis and we are in the process of ad vancing another facility on the Quin Road as a headquarters for Clare Civil Defence and to further expand on third level offerings in the town. The additional funding will provide for much needed investment in these areas.

• €80k: The balance of funding will support the Municipal District administration and the delivery on a number of Tourism products in the county.

Community Grant Scheme

The am algamation o f v arious grant s chemes i n 2019 into a Community G rant Scheme has proven successful with an annual allocation in excess of €500k. This scheme i s av ailable to s upport community and v oluntary gr oups wi shing to undertake s pecific projects under the various scheme c ategories. Based on increase interest f rom a num ber o f gro ups and f eedback f rom m embers, an increased budget p rovision has be en m ade o f € 75k. This wi ll i nclude the introduction of a Christmas light grant s cheme for Towns and Villages and also enhance the sustainable tourism category of the scheme. This inclusion of funding to Music Generation Clare, Clare Sports Partnership, Red Cross Clare among others will be coordinated under this scheme.