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 an…

I thank the Deputy for that overview. I acknowledge that Cork County Council and the team that deals with our Department's delivery of projects, is one of the stronger performing local authorities. The delivery by our partners on the ground can be a frustration generally in relation to RRDF. It is not in Cork. To that effect, we are engaging with local authorities and delivery bodies around the country on delivery of RRDF projects. As we have an open call, the advice needs to go out. It is all very well preparing a…

That is exactly the kind of project we want to do under the RRDF. It is a project that would not have been done previously and for larger towns of 9,000 plus, there is the URDF and its successor scheme. It is important that project is done in conjunction with the community and that there is community engagement in it. One of our challenges with projects such as this is that sometimes the communities may not have been involved at the outset and as the project rolls out, there can be challenges with parking spaces an…

I thank the Deputy for his question. LEADER, as he knows, is a community-led approach to local development that has been operating for just over 35 years. We marked the 35th anniversary of LEADER just last weekend. It was introduced by the EU under the then Commissioner Ray MacSharry. The programme has evolved through successive programming periods and in 2007 it was mainstreamed into the Common Agricultural Policy and became a key intervention within Ireland’s rural development programme. Since 2007 the total amou…

I agree with the Deputy. When the Minister of State and I visited Moneygall, the local development company put on a fantastic display. During the ploughing championships last year, it really showcased what LEADER can do across a county and the interventions it can make. On the future of LEADER, we are working, as I said, with the Minister, Deputy Heydon, and his Department. The CAP consultative committee includes my Department and other rural stakeholders. I am also engaging with Irish MEPs to discuss a range of is…

I do not disagree with the Deputy's analysis. That would be a good investment of EU funds. LEADER is not the only show in town. Since 2020 my Department has allocated in the region of €65 million in funding to Offaly. In 2025 alone we invested €1 million under the LIS, €1.2 million under the town and village renewal scheme, €1.4 million under the community service programme, €420,000 under CLÁR and €440,000 under ORIS. We are investing €12 million under the RRDF to redevelop a site in Edenderry as an art space, com…

Tá scéim na bhfoghlaimeoirí Gaeilge á riar ag mo Roinn ar mhaithe le tacú le deiseanna sealbhaithe agus saibhrithe teanga sna réigiúin Ghaeltachta do fhoghlaimeoirí, idir scoláirí dara leibhéal, mic léinn tríú leibhéal agus daoine fásta ó áiteanna ar fud na tíre. Tagann an scéim le cuspóirí an Rialtais i leith na Gaeilge, mar atá leagtha amach sa Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge 2010-2030, agus is í an scéim an príomhbhealach ina dtacaíonn mo Roinn le hearnáil na gcoláistí Gaeilge. Is ar na teaghlaigh Ghaeltachta a…

Tá sé soiléir ón ardú a bhí ann anuraidh go bhfuilimid dáiríre faoi seo. Táimid dáiríre faoin 29,000 scoláire agus beagnach 530 teaghlach Gaeilge a aithint. Táimid ag obair leis na mná tí agus leis na coláistí. Anuraidh, d'fhógair mé scéim aonuaire do theaghlaigh sheanbhunaithe chun tacú tuilleadh leis an gcostas chun troscán nua a cheannach. Is deontas suas le €2,000, nó 80% den chostas, a bhí i gceist leis sin. Fuair níos mó ná 200 teaghlach an tacaíocht seo. Is slí eile é sin ina bhfuilimid ag cuidiú. Táimid ag …

Tá tuiscint ag gach cuid den Rialtas ar cé chomh tábhachtach is atá an taithí seo agus cé chomh tábhachtach is atá an Ghaeltacht. Tá an t-ádh linn go bhfuil an tAire caiteachais phoiblí ina iarAire Stáit sa Roinn seo. Tuigeann sé cé chomh tábhachtach is atá sé. Bhí sé sin an-tábhachtach agus muid ag iarraidh buiséad na Roinne a ardú. Ní fiú ardú mór sa bhuiséad muna bhfuil sé á chaitheamh ar an nGaeltacht. Tá sé ar intinn agam é a úsáid chun infheistíocht a dhéanamh, go háirithe sa saghas taithí is fearr, is é sin …

I thank Deputy Burke for his question. The community centre investment fund, CCIF, was introduced by the former Minister, Heather Humphreys, to provide high-quality community facilities that are available to all groups in both urban and rural communities. Through the CCIF, to date some €111 million has been allocated for the enhancement and refurbishment of existing community centres and the construction of new centres where such a need has been identified. This is an unprecedented level of investment but there con…

I know from speaking to those involved that one of the motivations behind the approach taken during Heather Humphreys' time in office was the need to help the exact kind of community that Deputy Burke has spoken about. There was massive development back in the seventies and eighties. Perhaps there are three of us in the Chamber who are old enough to remember AnCO. I will not say which three people I am thinking of. Through AnCO and through the skills of the people involved at the time, many community centres were b…

I was out yesterday with Deputy Currie and the Minister, Deputy Chambers, in Castleknock at the community centre to see the work it is doing with community employment and Tús. A community centre is not just a building; it is a hub and a magnet for activity. It is really the heart of activities. That is why we want to support the programme to ensure facilities are improved in existing centres as well as new ones. Some 190 CCIF projects have been approved in Cork since 2022. The Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, the Minister …

Did the Deputy write this last week?

Gabhaim buíochas leis an mbeirt Teachta Dála as an ábhar tábhachtach seo a ardú anocht. As Deputies Cullinane and McGuinness set out, the issue relates to a group of former workers who left the service of Waterford Crystal between 1990 and 1992 under a redundancy arrangement. At the time of the redundancy, the workers received a refund of their pension contributions relating to their service in the relevant company pension schemes up to that time. Consequently, they then ceased to be members of the pension schemes …

I thank both Deputies. I will again clarify the position. The former employees took refunds of their contributions. They have no pension entitlements. Therefore, they had no entitlement under the mediated settlement. The Pensions Authority has also advised that there has been no breach of the Pensions Act in this case. Some took legal action against the parties. That action was settled. It did not involve the State in any way. The Attorney General has comprehensively reviewed all of the information that was provide…

No.

I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the following Order in draft: Finance Act 2004 (Section 91) (Deferred Surrender to the Central Fund) Order 2026, copies of which have been laid in draft form before Dáil Éireann on 4th February, 2026.

Tá athas orm, mar Aire Forbartha Tuaithe agus Pobail, agus Gaeltachta, go bhfuil deis agam labhairt inniu i nDáil Éireann, agus muid ag cur tús le Seachtain na Gaeilge 2026. Beidh muid ag ceiliúradh ár dteanga dúchais, ár dtraidisiúin agus ár gcultúr le linn na féile, agus mholfainn do gach duine páirt a ghlacadh, is cuma cén leibhéal líofachta atá acu sa Ghaeilge. Is teanga bheo í an Ghaeilge. Tá sí beo de bharr go bhfuil pobal teanga againn sna ceantair Ghaeltachta a labhraíonn í go laethúil, mar a dhéanann daoin…

Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an gCeann Comhairle as a cuid Gaeilge. Tá sí ag éirí níos láidre. Ag cloisteáil na díospóireachta inniu, bhí sé suimiúil go raibh a lán daoine ag gabháil leithscéalta as a gcuid Gaeilge. Níl aon ghá leis sin. Is ceart go n-úsáideann muid í sa Teach seo agus sa Teach eile. Ba cheart go mbeadh muid in ann í a úsáid ar lá ar bith, ní hamháin le linn Sheachtain na Gaeilge. Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an dhá chlub Chumann Lúthchleas Gael, An Ghaeltacht agus Daingean Uí Chúis, as na buanna a bhí…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as an gceist thábhachtach seo. According to the latest labour force survey, which was released by the Central Statistics Office, CSO, on 19 February, employment has been increasing for young people, standing at 323,200, which is up 6,000 over the past year. Reflecting this, the youth unemployment rate of 9.8% in quarter 4 of 2025 is lower than a year earlier, when the rate was at 9.9%. It is important to note that youth employment is in most economies generally about twice the level…