BY Rachel Cunningham
Dublin’s voluntary, community and charity groups are in need of a break in next month’s budget to assist in their recovery from the significant demands on services during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Community Foundation for Ireland has claimed.
This pre-budget submission, entitled ‘Recover Better’, calls for a range of measures to encourage charitable donations and to ensure that money is directed towards services, rather than taxes. It cautioned that Dublin communities will continue to face huge challenges, even as they move on from the impact of the pandemic to recovery.
The Community Foundation, which expected to provide over €20 million in grants to voluntary, community and charitable partners this year, says lifeline services, helplines and supports for vulnerable people are being pushed to the limit. It is encouraging Dublin politicians to get behind the measures outlined in the submission, stating that they will directly benefit local communities.
The foundation is calling for a rise in tax credits on donations for charities from the current 31 per cent rate, a commitment to spend €1 per person per year for the next three years (€15 million), to be matched by private donors to increase awareness on the need for climate action in communities, and a reduction on Capital Acquisitions Tax for charitable donations in wills.
Denise Charlton, Chief Executive of The Community Foundation for Ireland, said: “In the past 18 months, we have seen Ireland at its very best. In Dublin and across the country private, corporate and family donors have given like never before, as has the public through events like RTÉ Does Comic Relief. It has been a privilege to turn this generosity into support in communities in Dublin and across the country.
“However, it is also true that every-time we are in a position to offer funding the demands from those providing support on the ground far exceeds the money available. Now it is time for our political leaders including Dublin TDs, to play their part and introduce the imaginative policies required so that we truly do ‘Recover Better’.”
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