The Rural Social Scheme (RSS) is aimed at low-income farmers and fishermen/women. To qualify for RSS, the applicant must be getting a social welfare payment. In return, people participating in RSS provide services that benefit rural communities. Participants work 19.5 hours per week. These hours are based on a farmer/fisher-friendly schedule. This is to ensure participation does not affect participants farming/fishing activities. Participants are offered a contract from their start date up to the following 31 March. They may be considered for a further term following the initial contract, if they continue to meet all the criteria for RSS. There is no time limit on RSS. If low- income farmers/fisherpersons are eligible for RSS but don’t wish to participate, their dependent spouse, civil partner or cohabitant may take the available place. However, this is only if neither of them are participating in any other similar scheme, (for example, the Community Employment Scheme.) The Rural Social Scheme operates independently of the Community Employment Scheme (CE). The types of work carried out by RSS participants includes the following • Maintaining and enhancing various walking routes (that is, waymarked ways, agreed walks) and bog roads • Energy conservation work for older people and those at risk of poverty • Village and countryside enhancement projects • Social care and care of older people • Community care for pre-school and after-school groups • Environmental maintenance work – maintenance and caretaking of community and sporting facilities • Projects relating to not-for-profit cultural and heritage centres • Community administration or clerical work • Any other appropriate community-based project SKDP delivers the Rural Social Scheme in South Kerry under contract to the Dept. of Social Protection. Each year the RSS & Tus Schemes support approx. 200 community & voluntary projects across South Kerry.

The Tús initiative is a community work placement scheme providing short-term working opportunities for unemployed people. The work opportunities are to benefit the community and are provided by community and voluntary organisations in both urban and rural areas. The Tús initiative is managed by local development companies and Údarás na Gaeltachta for the Department of Social Protection (DSP), which has overall responsibility for the scheme. Unemployed people who are eligible to participate in the scheme are selected and contacted by the DSP and referred to the local development company. All the work carried out by participants in the Tús scheme will be community-based. The types of projects eligible for the scheme can include: • Environmental services (for example, conservation and maintenance of national walkways) • Caring services (for example, childcare, care of older people) • General community services (for example, newsletters or information provision for communities) • Heritage and cultural services (for example, local heritage projects) • Educational services (for example, community playgroups) Participants work 19.5 hours a week and the placement lasts 12 months. SKDP manages the Tús programme in South Kerry under contract to the Dept. of Social Protection.

The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) 2018 – 2023 provides funding to tackle poverty and social exclusion through local engagement and partnerships between disadvantaged individuals, community organisations and public sector agencies. Administered nationally by Pobal, the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) is co-funded by the Irish Government, through the Department of Rural and Community Development, and the European Social Fund Plus under the Employment, Inclusion, Skills and Training (EIST) Programme 2021 -2027. SICAP addresses high and persistent levels of deprivation through targeted and innovative, locally-led approaches. It supports disadvantaged communities and individuals including unemployed people, people living in deprived areas, people with disabilities, single parent families, people on a low income, members of the Traveller and Roma community and other disadvantaged groups. The programme is managed at a local level by 33 Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) across the country, with support from local authorities, and actions are delivered by Local Development Companies (LDCs) such as SKDP. LDCs work with marginalised communities and service providers using a community development approach to improve people’s lives. For example, helping people to find work or to upskill, providing CV training or a personal development course, helping them onto a work placement programme such as CE or Tύs. SKDP implement the SICAP programme in South Kerry under contract to the Kerry Local Community Development Committee (LCDC – a Subcommittee of Kerry County Council). Each year SKDP supports over 30 community groups & social enterprises and over 400 individuals with a range of wellbeing, employment, self-employment, education & training supports. The current five-year SICAP programme runs from 2024 to 2028.

LEADER is a rural development programme co-funded by the EU which operates a locally-led, bottom-up, approach to meeting the needs of rural communities and businesses. The programme supports private enterprises and community groups in rural areas. The programme is based on a community-led approach to rural development and plays an important role in supporting communities and enterprises in progressing job creation, social inclusion and environmental projects at local level. Since its launch in 1991, LEADER has provided rural communities across the European Union with the resources to enable local partners to actively engage and direct the local development of their area, through community-led local development. The LEADER Programme aims to support the local development of Ireland’s rural areas which, for the purposes of the programme, are defined as all parts of Ireland with the exception of the areas within the boundaries of the five main cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway. The programme is administered at a local level by 29 local action groups (LAGs) in 28 sub-regional areas across the country. Kerry is one of these 28 sub-regional areas. LAGS contain local representatives from the community, public and private sector. LAGs are responsible for local projects in accordance with the Local Development Strategies they develop themselves. In Kerry, the LAG is the Kerry LCDC. SKDP acts as an ‘implementing partner’ for the Kerry LAG for the LEADER 2023 – 2027 programme, essentially operationalising the programme in South Kerry and undertaking such tasks as promoting the programme, supporting communities & businesses to develop funding proposals, inviting and processing funding applications, evaluating funding applications and making funding recommendations to the Kerry LAG, processing grant claims etc. SKDP allocated just over €4.9 million to 270 projects in South Kerry under the LEADER 2023-2027 Programme across the economic, community & environmental spectrum. The 2023 – 2027 LEADER Programme has three thematic areas of focus and these are Theme 1 – Economic Development & Job Creation Theme 2 – Rural Infrastructure & Social Inclusion Theme 3 – Sustainable Development of the Rural Environment and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation.

The South Kerry Skillnet Network is an enterprise led training network that provides subsidised training to member companies. The network is dedicated to the promotion and facilitation of workforce learning in South Kerry. It’s mission is to facilitate increased participation in enterprise training and workforce learning within South Kerry’s small & medium enterprises. The Network is funded by Skillnet Ireland (a business support agency of the Irish Government) and members contributions. Typically, businesses that avail of Skillnet support can avail of discounts of up to 35% on the cost of training. The South Kerry Skillnet training network supports about circa 150 businesses each year with their training requirements and will on average provide over 3,000 training days to about 500 individuals. The South Kery Skillnet Network was established by SKDP in 2006 and is a multi-sectoral network (i.e., containing businesses from different sectors, such as Financial services, IT, Tourism & Hospitality, Agriculture etc). A wide variety of training courses are provided across the following categories – Business & Management Development Skills, Technical Skills, IT Skills, Tourism & Hospitality, Healthcare & Agriculture. SKDP operate the South Kerry Skillnet under contract from Skillnet Ireland.

The Walks scheme was launched in 2008 and is aimed at private landholders. It involves the development, enhancement and maintenance of developed trails which are approved by Sport Ireland Outdoors and listed on the National Trails Register. The scheme is currently administered at a local level by 20 Local Development Companies (LDCS) on behalf of the Department of Rural and Community Development. The Department provides a funding contribution for Rural Recreation Officers (RROs) in each of these LDCs, with a contribution also being provided from Fáilte Ireland. The RRO assists with the delivery of the Scheme and supports other rural recreation initiatives at a local level. The scheme is aimed at private landholders who, upon acceptance onto the scheme by the Department of Rural and Community Development (DRCD), and their formal acceptance of the terms of the Scheme, become “scheme participants”, and from this point work with their local LDC and RRO. The scheme participant is the private landholder who has exclusive possession and use of the land in question in return for a participant payment upon acceptance of the terms of the scheme on an approved trail. Scheme participants agree to enter into an agreement to deliver the scheme for a period of 5 years, and will receive a payment (twice a year) for their work on the development, enhancement and maintenance work as set out in their agreed “Work Plan”. The LDC will agree a draft work plan with the participants based on Sport Ireland Outdoors criteria for a developed trail and will determine the materials required along with the hours deemed necessary for the work to be carried out. SKDP administers the Walks Scheme in South Kerry under contract to the Dept. of Rural & Community Development. SKDP currently has in excess of 300 landowners on the Walks Scheme, with the majority of these landowners on the Kerry Way walking trail. Payments to landowners on the scheme total almost €400,000 per annum. SKDP also employ a rural recreation officer under a service level agreement with the Dept. of Rural & Community Development.

The Kerry Social Farming Project offers an opportunity for people with disabilities to pursue some of their personal life choices by engaging with local farm families and the farming community. The model of Kerry Social Farming is a voluntary model, whereby host farmers offer their time on a voluntary basis, typically one day a week (4 – 6 hours), supporting participants engage in activities on and around the farm. At the heart of Kerry Social Farming is a social inclusion project enabling real working relationships and friendships to develop. Financial support is provided to cover the costs of any adjustments that have to be made to the farm (for health & safety and to provide activities for participants). These costs along with any additional insurance costs are fully covered so no farmer is ‘out of pocket’. Personnel supports are also provided to host farmer and farm families by the Kerry Social Farming facilitators, the Kerry Social Farming Working Group along with service provider staff who provide ongoing support on the farm. The Kerry Social Farming project is steered by a working group, who membership comprises representatives of project partners. SKDP is the lead partner and provides the legal, financial and administrative governance of Kerry Social Farming. The project is supported with funding from the SICAP programme and also funding from the Dept. of Agriculture Food & the Marine. SKDP employ two social farming facilitators, one based in South Kerry, the other based in North Kerry to support the host farmers and the participants. The project was established by SKDP in 2013 and continues to expand with over 30 farms now engaging with the project across the county. Kerry Social Farming host farmers provide social farming opportunities to over 60 participants on a weekly basis. The vision of Kerry Social Farming is to promote and operate social farming in Kerry as a viable option for achieving improved quality of life, greater inclusion and community networking for people with disabilities. The mission of Kerry Social Farming is through working collectively in a shared service with the social care service providers, people with disabilities, local communities, local development companies, national & local government, the business community, farm organisations & farm families to develop and provide social farming opportunities in Kerry. Kerry Social Farming project partners include local development Companies (SKDP & NEWKD), the Local Authority, disability Service providers & disability organisations, Kerry Education & Training Board, HSE, Local link Kerry, host farmers, KSF participants and their families.

Killarney National Park (KNP) was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1982. KNP encompasses a variety of mountains, lakes, woodlands, waterfalls and antiquities that are world famous. The park is of particularly high ecological value because of the quality, diversity and extensiveness of many of its habitats and the wide variety of species, some of which are rare. The Reserve was extended and renamed as the UNESCO Kerry Biosphere Reserve in 2017. The extension primarily incorporated the MacGillycuddy Reeks and Lough Leane catchment, within buffer and transition areas. The extended areas are generally not in State ownership but are hydrologically linked or have habitat connectivity with the core area of the Biosphere (Killarney National Park). Therefore, sustainable land uses as well as community and scientific understanding in these areas are important in supporting the integrity of the Biosphere. There are many legislative and policy instruments in place to safeguard key ecological interests (NPWS Natura 2000 Conservation Objective documents are informative in this regard), while Kerry County Council land use plans seek to ensure sustainable land use and development in these areas. In addition, continued stakeholder collaboration is required to ensure that the region is managed effectively but also meets the requirements of the local communities and wider interest groups. The State has proactively managed KNP UNESCO Biosphere Reserve as a National Park, pursuing the primary objective of conservation of biodiversity and supporting its use for tourism, recreation, amenity and education. To that end, it has invested in conservation and other projects, and in staff. A major intent of the new UNESCO Biosphere Reserve is to build on and strengthen conservation of biodiversity in line with the goals of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and to pursue scientific endeavour in that regard. The Biosphere Management Council, comprising of Kerry County Council and NPWS, have pledged resources for a number of Kerry UNESCO Biosphere Reserve initiatives, one of which includes: • A Kerry Biosphere Reserve Officer, responsible for stakeholder engagement, biosphere promotion and implementing actions as determined by the Management Council Following a request from Kerry County Council and NPWS to South Kerry Development Partnership CLG (SKDP), the board of South Kerry Development Partnership agreed to employ the Kerry Biosphere Officer in 2020. The overall objective of the role is to work with a variety of stakeholders, including Kerry County Council, National Parks & Wildlife Service, farmers, landowners and the MacGillycuddy Reeks Mountain Access Forum to promote and support the implementation of the goals & objectives of the Kerry UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

South Kerry Development Partnership CLG (SKDP) – Additional Funding Programmes Summary for New website – Nove 2025

Kerry West Cork ACRES CP Project – ACRES (Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme) is Ireland’s new agri-environment climate scheme under Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan. This new €1.5 billion flagship agri-environment scheme is a farmer-friendly scheme to help address biodiversity decline while delivering an income support for up to 50,000 farm families in Ireland.

There are two streams depending on where your land is:

• General: available nationally (outside of the high priority geographical area defined for the ACRES Co-operation approach) and offers a range of actions for individual farmers, both targeted and general.

• Co-operation: available to farmers in defined high priority geographical areas, and involves results-based payments as well as bespoke farm and landscape actions. Contracts have been awarded for the management of Co-operation Projects (CP), and farmers will be supported by new teams, who will develop local action plans for their zones.

SKDP tendered for and were awarded the contract to roll out the ACRES Co-operation scheme covering the Kerry West Cork area. In early 2023 all applicants who applied to DAFM were accepted into the scheme and this meant 3,024 participants for the Kerry West Cork CP region.

Four ‘sub offices’ were established by SKDP for the operation of the ACRES CP scheme in the following locations: Beaufort, Camp, Bantry and the SKDP Office in Kenmare, with 18 staff in place to deliver the contract.

The staff had to assign ‘scorecards’ to all private lands with the CP area in order for the participants farm advisors to complete the results-based habitat assessments. The score for each field/commonage is assessed using a scorecard which focuses on the key habitat or species of interest e.g. grassland/peatland/chough. Site attributes such as presence of positive indicator plants or sward structure can improve the score. Negative indicators such as the presence of invasive species can reduce the score. There is a maximum of €7,000 available per year to the farmer on the results-based assessments, paid per ha, with different rates for private land and commonage- see tables below.

An additional €3,500 is available annually for farmers to carry out works and or purchase infrastructure to increase the results-based habitat scores. These are called Non-Productive Investments or Landscape Actions.

Non-Productive Investments are actions that are available to the ACRES Co-operation Participants to either address environmental issues on the farm, directly contribute to environmental objectives or increase the farmers capacity to improve field scores through management.

Non-Productive Investments differ from Landscape Actions in they are generally smaller in scale and are standalone actions on a single farm, and must be applied for through a participants Farm Advisor.

Landscape actions will be developed by the Co-operation Project team (CP Team) working directly with the participants.

During the summer of 2023 the ACRES Kerry West Cork CP delivered training to Farm Advisors throughout the CP area on the Grassland, Peatland and Scrub/Woodland scorecards. They also delivered Chough and Coastal scorecard training to advisors who would be using those scorecards.

Once training was complete the CP Team then began the walking of over 74,500ha of commonages to complete those habitat assessments.

Workability – Inclusive Pathways to Employment Programme – is an employment focused programme which aims to support people with disabilities to enter education and employment. The primary purpose of the programme is to support people with disabilities to access employment, including self-employment or education and training to improve their employment outcomes. The introduction of the programme by Government was in recognition of the fact that in Ireland there is still a significant gap in terms of the labour force participation rate between people with disabilities and those without a disability.

The programme is co-financed by the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) under Employment, Inclusion, Skills and Training Programme (EIST) 2021-2027 and the Department of Social Protection, and is administered nationally by Pobal.

The aim of the programme is to ensure people with disabilities are fully supported to find and maintain employment and organisations who employ programme participants are supported to ensure that their employment is successful. The programme aims to support up to 5,000 people nationally with disabilities to progress their employment ambitions over its lifetime. The Workability programme incorporates a strong focus on employer engagement, raising employers’ awareness and building their capacity to recruit, retain and progress people with disabilities in their workplace.

The WorkAbility: Inclusive Pathways to Employment Programme provides funding to local, regional, and national projects in Ireland that focus on achieving improved employment outcomes for people with disabilities through a range of support measures. The duration of the Programme is for a maximum of 60 months, from 1st January 2024 to 31st December 2028.

The Programme is aimed at people with disabilities aged 16 years and older who are currently not work ready and/or are distant from the labour market. The programme supports projects that use person-centred approaches to provide progressive pathways into education, training, and employment (including self-employment) for participants based on their needs, their abilities, and their potential.

This person-centred approach is really important and underpins the SKDP approach to supporting its Workability programme participants. It recognises that the programme participants are unique and their pathways to employment need to be as unique and individualized as they are. Supports must be tailored to where they are at on their employment journey and the aim of the SKDP workability team is to work in a collaborative way with participants, working in their best interests and at their pace, as they navigate their next steps to training / employment.

South Kerry Development Partnership Partnership was one of 52 organisations nationally approved for funding in December 2023. The funding enables SKDP to work a lot more intensely with people with disabilities with the aim of securing increased employment, work experience/internships, volunteering opportunities etc. SKDP have recruited 3 Workability Programme employment facilitators, one full time and two part time facilitators, who will work directly on the programme by engaging and supporting programme participants, collaborating with employers, disability organisations and other SKDP programmes to leverage the required supports and provide person centered pathways towards enhanced employability and/or access to work experience for the 75 people with disabilities that SKDP aims to support over the lifetime of its Workability Programme.

SKDP HSE School Leavers Programme The SKDP/HSE School Leaver Programme is aimed at young adults with disabilities who have recently completed their second-level education in Kerry. The SKDP School Leavers programme is a community-led initiative that endeavours to promote, facilitate and support the social inclusion, education and well-being needs of school leavers who are interested in working in farming, in community projects and with local employers. It offers full-time support services for young people who are referred through the HSE Disability Team. The programme offers:

• One to one mentoring provided by professional staff to help each school leaver achieve their personal goals.

• Work experience on host farms, local businesses and community projects.

• Group sessions with other school leavers, including social gatherings such as open days and farm walks, attending social gatherings and sporting events, etc.

• Education and training courses.

• Skills development and well-being.

The programme may be offered on a full-time or part-time capacity to participants based on a person centered approach in meeting the needs of people with disabilities. The programme’s sustainability is underpinned by the dedication of voluntary host farmers, community and voluntary groups, employers and the support provided by SKDP School Leaver Programme team and wider SKDP programme staff. SKDP employ three officers (two full time & One part-time) to work with the programme participants and SKDP will shortly recruit a fourth officer due to the expansion of the programme in 2025. The programme is funded by the HSE through section 39 funding to SKDP.

The Community Connection Project (CCP) is an 18-month project funded by the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht delivered in partnership with the Local Development Companies Network (LDCN) and Local Development Companies (LDCs). The CCP will support the recruitment of up to 26 Community Link Workers, employed by Local Development Companies, who will engage and work with local communities across Ireland over an 18-month period with a view to helping communities respond to the arrival of International Protection Applicants (IPAs), to support the importance of addressing community concerns and tackling misinformation on migrant integration.

The aim of the project is to directly engage with local communities (residents already living in the local community as the primary focus) to understand and tackle challenges and concerns in the context of community integration locally.

The objectives of the CCP are to:

• collate the multitude of approaches, challenges and relevant information to inform policy decisions,

• develop practice on positive community led approaches to integration that can be shared and adapted for use, and

• provide an evidence base for any potential expansions of the project

The Community Connection Project (CCP) uses a community development and inclusion approach to address concerns of communities and assist them in developing constructive responses to numbers of International Protection Applicants in their local area.

The Community Link Workers (CLWs) will engage and work with local communities across Ireland over an 18-month period, helping build community resilience against misinformation and prejudice by working with the local community before, during and after the arrival of IPAs and where IPA Centres are already in use.

The Community Link Worker will work with communities, in accordance with community development practice, to understand the facts and realities of the International Protection System and the challenges faced by people seeking asylum, in the context of communities with their own needs and challenges.

Kerry was identified as one of the areas housing substantial numbers of International Protection Applicants and consequently allocated funding for 1 Community Link Worker on a full-time or part-time basis as required. This funding was allocated to SKDP. SKDP recruited a full-time community link worker, who commenced employment in early June 2025.