Rural Schemes Dail Éireann — 2026-03-26 ============================================================ Dara Calleary (FF), Mayo The rural regeneration and development fund is the major capital investment programme to support large-scale ambitious projects to achieve sustainable economic and social development in rural areas. To date, the fund has allocated over €614 million to 273 projects across the country, which includes over €43 million since 2018 allocated to 27 projects located throughout County Cork. These projects are being delivered by the local authority and other publicly funded bodies including our local development companies and Údarás na Gaeltachta. Ten of the 27 projects have been completed in County Cork to date. Examples include the first phase of the Kanturk regeneration plan and the Ballydesmond village public realm and place-making enhancement project. There are 17 active RRDF projects, which includes four projects in Castletownroche, Crosshaven, Skibbereen and Fermoy, which were successful in the latest category 2 call for proposals announced in October 2025. Last month, we were delighted to announce a call for proposals for category 1 applications. This call will focus on strategic, large-scale build projects that are ready to commence. These projects must have a lasting impact on the towns and villages and deliver on the objectives of Our Rural Future, which is our rural policy. We are inviting applications for well-developed proposals from our local authorities and other State-funded lead bodies that work in partnership with local communities and stakeholders. Full details of the call are available on my Department's website. --- 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/dail/2026-03-26/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:47+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-26