From:Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht

Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, Dara Calleary TD, Minister of State with responsibility for Community Development and Charities, Jerry Buttimer TD, and Minister of State in the Department of Transport, Seán Canney TD, have today (Wednesday, 8 July 2026) announced a new programme that will provide funding for initiatives in urban areas with the highest concentration of disadvantage.

The new programme - SÍOL, ‘Seed’ in English, stands for Scéim Infheistíochta ag Obair Le Chéile, and this translates to the ‘Working Together Investment Scheme’.

The SÍOL programme is designed to deliver projects that improve public spaces, support health and wellbeing and community safety. It will also provide access to education and training for people living in some of the most disadvantaged urban areas of the country.

Funding of €31.5 million has been secured up to 2030 in the National Development Plan to maintain the long-term delivery of the scheme. €5 million was announced today to support 15 areas in 2026, including nine located in cities.

Announcing the new programme today, Minister Calleary said:

“I am delighted to announce the new SÍOLprogramme today which will provide a solid foundation for ongoing targeted investment in urban areas where there is the most extreme disadvantage.

“Since I was appointed as Minister in this Department, it has been one of my key priorities to implement a programme that tackles urban disadvantage. Working on the previous RAPID model, SÍOL, will make real differences in communities that need it most.

“The name SÍOL means ‘Seed’ and, much like a seed, it is my hope that the SÍOL programme will grow in the coming years to help more and more communities across the country.”

“In my 22 years as a public representative, I have seen first-hand how initiatives like this can have a profound, positive effect on communities that need it most. Interventions like this are a catalyst for momentum in building community.

“This programme is designed to provide investment into the communities that need it most. The local knowledge and expertise that will help deliver the programme will ensure that the funding is targeted to develop the community facilities and amenities that will have the most impact at a local level.

“A seed doesn’t become a thriving plant overnight. It grows with care, commitment and patience. The funding that has been secured in the National Development Plan to support this new programme shows this Government’s commitment to growing the programme in a sustainable manner over time”

The new programme has been designed based on statistical information available through both the Central Statistics Office, and Pobal’s deprivation index. An analysis of ‘Urban and Rural Life in Ireland’conducted by the ESRI was also taken into consideration. All of this analysis was done to ensure that the funding is targeted at the most disadvantaged areas within the designated towns and cities.

“It gives me great pleasure to join my colleagues across Government to launch the SÍOL programme today. The name of this new programme translates to the “Working Together Investment Scheme” and I think it epitomises how we operate as a Government; All parties working together to achieve a shared outcome.

“Having previously served as Minister of State in the Department of Rural and Community Development, I know first-hand the importance of investing in developing our urban communities.

“This new programme will deliver much needed investment into the areas that need it most, and I look forward to seeing the impact that it will have over the coming years.”

The Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht will issue a Call for Proposals to Local Authorities with responsibility for areas that are eligible for funding under the SÍOL programme.

Local Authorities will be invited to submit projects to the Department for approval, and it is expected that the successful projects will be announced in late 2026.

A full list of the SÍOL areas is shown below:

Athy West Urban and Athy East Urban

Ballinasloe Urban, Ballinasloe Rural, Killure, and Aughrim

Ballina Urban, Ballina Rural, Ardnaree South Rural, Ardnaree North, and Ardnaree South Urban

Cavan Urban, Cavan Rural, Ballyhaise, Clonervy, Moynehall

Clondalkin – Moorfield, Clondalkin - Cappaghmore, and Clondalkin Rowlagh

Mayfield, The Glen A, and Blackpool B

Knocknaheeny, Churchfield, and Gurranebraher E

John’s A, John’s B, Killeely A, Ballynanty, and Limerick North Rural

Merchants Quay A, Ushers C, and Wood Quay A

Tallaght - Jobstown, Tallaght - Kiltipper, and Tallaght - Killinardan

Tipperary East Urban, Tipperary West Urban, Tipperary Rural

Waterford City & County Council

Ballybeg North, Larchville, and Lisduggan

SÍOL Programme Background and Design

The current Programme for Government commits to the establishment of a new scheme similar in style to the RAPID (Revitalising Areas through Planning, Investment and Development) programme, where all state agencies work together to implement community development and town-centre rejuvenation. It states that this work will have dedicated funding from the responsible Department. RAPID was an area-based social inclusion and local development programme launched in February 2001. It aimed to direct State assistance towards improving quality of life and access to opportunities for communities. The original RAPID programme comprised 51 areas by 2011 when it was closed to new applications as part of broader public spending adjustments.

Following its closure in 2011, a recast RAPID scheme was launched in 2017. This scheme differed from the original RAPID programme in a number of ways. For example, it used the Local Community Development Committee (LCDC) structure to administer funding, rather than having Area Implementation Teams and designated RAPID areas. This policy recognised the LCDCs as being best placed to identify local disadvantage and to incorporate RAPID funding as part of their overall efforts in tackling disadvantage. In 2019 the recast RAPID scheme was merged with the Communities Facilities Scheme to become the Community Enhancement Programme (now Local Enhancement Programme).

Since the previous RAPID initiative, Ireland has experienced unprecedented change. A full review of disadvantaged areas has formed part of the analysis that will underpin the new scheme to reflect this change and ensure that the funding available is targeted at the most disadvantaged areas within the designated towns and cities. The new SÍOL programme will target small areas of disadvantage in our towns and cities providing funding for infrastructure to improve the areas and the lives of the communities. Small areas with the highest population of extreme disadvantage are prioritised and the scheme is designed to provide similar supports to these areas that is given to rural areas through schemes such as CLÁR.

There are a number of datasets available that have been analysed to develop a robust methodology for selecting areas to be designated as SÍOL areas. The main dataset used is the Pobal HP Deprivation Index, which is Ireland’s primary social gradient tool. The methodology also incorporates information from the Urban and Rural Life in Ireland report published by the CSO. Other analysis conducted by the ESRI is also taken into consideration. The areas that are addressed by the CLÁR programme were also considered, as there is complementarity between the programmes, and a need to ensure that the boundaries of the areas covered by both schemes do not overlap. Different methodologies recognising the differences between cities and urban towns were used to select the areas that would be included in this scheme.