What is FEAD?

The Department of Social Protection is the designated managing authority for the Operational Programme (OP) for the Fund for the Economic Aid (FEAD) to the most deprived who will have responsibility for the implementation of the programme in Ireland.

Who will FEAD be targeted at?

FEAD support will help people take their first steps out of poverty and social exclusion. The FEAD will help the most deprived people by addressing one of their most basic needs i.e. food and non-food  for personal use e.g. sleeping bags, shampoo and other items for personal use, which is a precondition for them to be able to get a job or follow a training course.

What resources are available?  

FEAD Ireland will be funded by some €22m of European funding and €4m of Irish exchequer funding totaling some 26.7m for the period 2014-2020.

Sixty-five per cent (65%) of available resources will be applied to the provision of food and thirty five per cent (35%) to the provision of basic material assistance e.g. sleeping bags, personal need items such as shampoo, shower gel etc.

Accompanying measures funding will also be available to a maximum of 5% of the value of food or non-food items purchased.

How will FEAD work?

The Department will establish an open selection mechanism in a fair, transparent and equitable manner for the provision of funding from the OP to partner organisations to provide food and /or basic material assistance for homeless persons. This will allow the organisations to purchase food and basic material essential non-food items and will then organise the distribution of food/non-food directly to people or transfer the food/non-food products to other not-for-profit organisations working with the target groups.

The criteria will consist of the following elements:

• organisations status, governance structures and legal/recognisable form
• expertise in the provision of food and/or basic material assistance
• capacity to target, deliver services to and support persons who are most severely deprived
• track record in the provision of services to persons who are most deprived
• organisational policies in respect of equality, non-discrimination, care of vulnerable people, accessibility, and inclusion
• ability to record and provide necessary data for monitoring/evaluation
• administrative, operational and management capacity
• financial standing and ability to manage public funds
• integration with other publicly funded programmes (to avoid duplication of support from other publicly funded programmes)
• geographical coverage.

Focus of OP

The focus of the fund will be on those on the margins of society and in need of essential supports.  Effectively, the OP will target

• homeless persons including long-term rough sleepers
• children in low income/work intensity households
• victims of domestic violence in refuges and shelters
• person suffering or recovering from addictions
• certain members of the Roma and Traveller communities
• vulnerable persons transitioning to independent living from emergency accommodation, institutionalized care settings or places of detention
• any person without income, accommodation or means not otherwise defined above.