Government Publishes Dormant Accounts Action Plan 2018 – €40m to benefit disadvantaged groups

Seán Kyne T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development, today (Tuesday, 17 July) announced funding of almost €40 million for programmes and measures to support disadvantaged people and communities across the country.

The Dormant Account Action Plan 2018 allocates funding to 45 measures across 10 Departments and State Agencies. The measures will be funded from the Dormant Accounts Fund and will provide supports for economically, educationally and socially disadvantaged groups and people with disabilities.

Making the announcement today, Minister Kyne said: “I am delighted to launch the new Dormant Accounts Action Plan 2018 which provides funding of almost €40 million for 45 programmes and measures which will support disadvantaged people and communities across the country.

“The objective of Dormant Accounts Funding is to assist the most vulnerable groups in our society. I have been anxious to ensure that the measures we support focus on the areas of greatest need and make a significant and tangible difference to people at a local level. I believe that the 2018 Action Plan delivers on that goal and provides funding to support measures right across Government.

“In my own department, the 2018 Action Plan contains a diverse range of measures which will support at-risk individuals and groups in communities across the country. Some of the measures include: the use of IT to enable older people to live independently and securely in their own homes for longer; funding to ensure every county in Ireland has a volunteer centre; funding to encourage education at the community level; funding to support employment and entrepreneurship along the Atlantic Economic Corridor; and a fund to support social enterprises which enrich and enhance our communities, among other measures.

“Other departments will leverage Dormant Accounts Funding for a diverse range of programmes and measures that will support older people, migrants, new parents, persons living with disability, persons will an illness, carers, travellers, children and young people.

“These projects and programmes will deliver significant social and economic benefits to vulnerable people, will improve lives and strengthen communities over the coming years.”

The Dormant Accounts Action Plan is now available here on the website

Note to editors:

The Dormant Accounts Acts 2001-2012, together with the Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Act 2003, provide a framework for the administration of unclaimed accounts in credit institutions (i.e. banks, building societies and An Post) and unclaimed life assurance policies in insurance undertakings.

The main purpose of the legislation is to reunite account or policy holders with their funds in credit institutions or insurance undertakings and in this regard, these bodies are required to take steps to identify and contact the owners of dormant accounts and unclaimed life assurance policies.

However, in order to utilise the unused funds in dormant accounts and unclaimed policies to best use, the legislation also introduced a scheme for the disbursement of funds that are unlikely to be reclaimed from dormant accounts and unclaimed policies for the purposes of measures to assist:

1.       the personal and social development of persons who are economically or socially disadvantaged;

2.       the educational development of persons who are educationally disadvantaged or

3.       persons living with disability.

A full list of measures to be funded under the 2018 Dormant Accounts Fund Action Plan is set out on the table below. In total, 45 different measures, to the value of €39.7 million, will be supported under this year’s Action Plan.

The majority of measures will commence in 2019, with each Government Department responsible for delivery of their own measures.

Summary Table of Dormant Accounts Fund Action Plan 2018 Measures

The following table provides a summary of measures and allocated funding under the Dormant Accounts Action Plan 2018 to each relevant Government Department/Agency.