Rural Schemes Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-17 ============================================================ Dara Calleary (FF), Mayo Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir as an ábhar seo a ardú. I thank the Senator not just for raising the issue but for the rich history she has given us. The Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht implements a range of schemes and initiatives available to communities across Ireland, including Monasterevin. The supports most relevant to today are those offered under my Department's rural development investment programme. This programme has seen unprecedented growth in funding in recent years and I have had the privilege, as Minister, of seeing at first hand the real impact it is making across the country. Support is available to local authorities and other organisations in a wide range of areas, including: the refurbishment and development of community centres; provision of community recreational facilities; support for the purchase and redevelopment of vacant and derelict buildings in our rural towns and villages; the strengthening of the network of trails and walkways, which are such an asset; and the regeneration of towns and villages and the regeneration of buildings that may be in local authority ownership or community ownership, for use. In developing this range of interventions, my Department has devoted significant time and effort to develop and to maintain our professional working relationships with local authorities. This is because the local authorities in the main, lead the development and implementation of our projects on the ground. I am very happy to say that my Department has worked very well with Kildare County Council on an ongoing basis in recent years across a range of projects. Most recently, I was delighted to be able to announce support under the town and village renewal scheme. Among the 116 projects sharing in the funding allocation were projects in Clane and Athgarvan. In October, I was delighted to announce over €20 million in support for 30 projects under category 2 of the rural regeneration and development fund. Category 2 funding is designed to support applicants such as county councils to ensure that detailed planning and preparation is in place to support the successful delivery of large-scale capital projects. I was delighted be able to make that announcement in Athy, at the Shackleton centre. I am happy to note that the announcement includes an allocation of over €160,000 for Kildare County Council to support the Monasterevin town square regeneration projects. My officials continue to work closely with colleagues in Kildare County Council towards delivering on our shared ambition for rural Ireland and for Kildare. All of these investments are framed within the context of the Government's national rural development policy, Our Rural Future. The current policy ran from 2021 to 2025. It saw impactful and important improvements delivered across Government in areas such as digital connectivity, rural transport, support for rural enterprises and the development and support of the types of amenities and facilities that Senator O'Loughlin has raised here today. In keeping with our commitment in the programme for Government, work is now well advanced on the drafting of a new our rural future policy, which will cover the period to 2031. I remain committed to working with Senator O'Loughlin and all colleagues in this House to ensure that we will continue to build a more vibrant and sustainable future for rural communities across Ireland, Kildare and in Monasterevin. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-17/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:38+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-17