Tá sé agam anseo go bhfuaireamar the tender report on Monday. Ní fhaca mé céard a leagadh amach ar Tuairisc , ach táimid ag iarraidh é seo a dhéanamh chomh luath agus is féidir. Dúirt mé le hoifigigh mo Roinne, nuair a phléifear an cheist seo, go gcaithfear é a dhéanamh go cúramach ach go sciobtha mar táimid ag fanacht chomh fada chun é a dhéanamh. Tiocfaidh mé ar ais chuig an Teachta leis na sonraí sin. Ceapaim go mbeidh na sonraí cosúil leis sin mar chuid den chonradh idir-----

Gan dabht. Tá sé tábhachtach go mbeidh Gaeilge ag aon duine atá ag obair ar an togra seo agus go mbeidh siad ag fanacht ar an oileán.

The local improvement scheme supports improving non-public rural roads and laneways not usually maintained by local authorities. Since its re-establishment in 2017, almost €170 million has been provided by the Government to local authorities under the scheme. In recent years, my Department has increased the year-on-year base funding for the scheme and has redirected savings from other areas of the Department to the scheme as they have arisen. In April 2024, €40 million in funding was announced for the scheme across…

I am not going to confirm anything at this stage. We have opened the scheme and are looking through the applications. One thing that worked in my Department under the previous Minister, Heather Humphreys, is that we allocated money to it from savings in the Department. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I have asked that this continue. I am engaging with the Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, regarding funding from that Department because the LIS is really important. We introduced changes to t…

I note the Members' participation and the interest in the scheme. It was reintroduced in 2017. Base funding has increased year on year since 2021. Last year an additional €10 million in funding was secured. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I will be monitoring capital expenditure across the Department to utilise any savings and LIS is a priority for us. I have engaged with the Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and his Department on getting extra funding. Deputy McGreehan made a very solid p…

The community recognition fund was first introduced in 2023 to recognise the huge efforts made by communities in welcoming and supporting people coming to Ireland. Through the 2023 allocation €50 million in funding was approved for some 900 projects. To further support communities a further €50 million in funding was announced under community recognition last March. The additional funding is specifically targeted at projects located in cities, towns and villages that are hosting beneficiaries of temporary protectio…

I thank Deputy Aird. As he said, there has been fantastic delivery in Laois through the community recognition fund, but that is coming from the communities themselves. Over €2 million was allocated across 2023 and 2024. There were 48 projects in 2023, 43 of which have been completed. Ninety-nine percent of the 2023 allocation has been drawn down. Under the fund for 2024, €1,012,996 was approved for eight projects. I look forward to the early drawdown of the funding for those projects. As the Deputy said, the initia…

I am aware of the case. We have given feedback to Louth County Council on why the two applications could not proceed. However, the council has not lost any money as a consequence. It is important that it has been asked to submit alternative projects or further details on the proposed projects. The next project the Deputy mentioned, the community garden, is being assessed, and I will keep the Deputy informed about progress. It is very important to note that no money is being lost by Louth County Council as a consequ…

The town and village renewal scheme, which was introduced in 2016, has to date allocated over €177 million to almost 1,800 projects nationally. The scheme, which sees our local authorities work with community actors, primarily targets funding at rural towns and villages with populations of less than 10,000. I am delighted to announce that the 2025 scheme has been opened for applications. The 2025 scheme is intended to support revitalisation and continue its work by focusing on stimulating town centre economic and s…

I agree with the Deputy on that. There are powers available to local authorities under the Department of housing and local government and they should be used more. To assist in that regard, my Department has funded 26 town regeneration officers in local authorities. Their job is to drive the delivery of the town centre first programme, which entails a suite of supports for which we have allocated €4.5 million to regenerate town centres through a bottom-up approach. It will allow for the development of a second phas…

Anything to do with town centre refurbishment and regeneration should be done on a cross-government basis. Under town and village renewal and under the building or land acquisition measure, there might be potential for Kerry County Council to look at doing something if that plan continues. We are absolutely committed to town centre first and getting plans in place to identify this kind of project in advance and to look at the use of buildings in advance so they do not just get landed on people without notice and th…

I will definitely come back to the Deputy later. It will not be before the end of this time but I will clarify that because I have had a number of conversations with officials around pier development while preparing for questions and I have asked for more information on all of them. In relation to cúrsaí sa Chaladh Mór ar Inis Meáin, mar a dúirt mé leis an Teachta, is í Comhairle Chontae na Gaillimhe an t-údarás le haghaidh foirgnimh agus céanna ar na hOileáin Árann, Inis Meáin ina measc. I understand my Department…

Yes.

I know from discussing this with officials about the Deputy's interest in this and I know my predecessor, the then Minister, Heather Humphreys, drove this. Certainly, on the basis of discussions I have had, I am not happy it has taken so long and I intend to sit on it and drive it on as well. The business case is expected to take around nine months. The work is under way but it is expected to take that time. There are a lot of complexities to this in relation to Caladh Mór agus an Céibh an Chóra. I am trying to get…

I do intend to go to Inis Meáin at some stage to see for myself, not just on the pier issue but on all island issues. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I will be working collectively as regards the islands. I understand a number of marine assessments and studies have been undertaken on the island over the past few years, including bathymetric surveys and a marine simulation exercise. The bathymetric surveys were carried out on both Céibh an Chóra agus an Caladh Mór. They were provided to the consultant en…

I thank the Deputy for his question about men's sheds. I absolutely agree that men's sheds have been a very positive development for communities across Ireland. They provide a safe, comfortable and inclusive environment where people can share skills, work on meaningful projects and connect with their communities. I am absolutely committed to supporting the work of men's sheds. The programme for Government includes a commitment to continue to fund men's sheds. My Department currently provides a range of supports whi…

Deputy Healy raised this issue with me last week. There is no issue. We have provided funding over recent years. We wanted to provide funding last year but were unable to find a mechanism to do so. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I will have a meeting with the Irish Men's Sheds Association. In the meantime, I refer the Deputy to the local enhancement programme. There was money in that for local men's sheds. That will be decided on in the coming weeks.

I will continue from where I finished yesterday evening by going through the Bill section by section. Section 1 provides for the Short Title, construction and commencement. Section 2 provides for the definition of the 2005 Act as the Principal Act. Section 3 provides for the insertion of two new definitions into section 2 of the 2005 Act, namely “qualified cohabitant” and “surviving qualified cohabitant”. Section 4 provides for amendments to section 81 of the 2005 Act in order to allow surviving qualified cohabitan…

He normally does not need it.

He has four of them on now.