Tánaiste Ms Mary Harney has announced the Social Economy Programme for the South East Region, with £1.57 million already committed to projects over a three-year period.
Announcing the grant approvals in Waterford this morning, she expressed her satisfaction at the progress to date in developing the programme in the region and encouraged organisations in the community and voluntary sector to use the Social Economy Programme to further develop community services.
Projects already under way involve crafts, fisheries, rural transport and tourism.
"When we say we need an enterprise economy, we mean a diversity of enterprises, from large-scale businesses delivering thousands of jobs to micro-projects serving local communities," Ms Harney said.
"They all contribute to quality of life and our standards of living in Ireland. Everyone has a part to play in an enterprise economy and a caring society."
A further 13 projects are at an advanced stage of making their submissions. Nationwide, there are now 24 full project approvals and 225 grants for business plan development.