The town centre first policy, for which I and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage hold joint responsibility, is the major cross-government policy. It aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres. It does so by setting out a framework to facilitate and resource the regeneration of our towns and villages to ensure they are vibrant, viable, visible and happy places to live, work, invest in and visit. Town centre first complements other national policies, inc…

I disagree with the Deputy. This is another social media statement without any basis. He mentioned Fermoy. We are currently investing €2.2 million in Fermoy to renew the town centre and the Blackwater experience and are working with the local community and development companies. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I are involved. The Deputy has to see for himself, or else does not want to see, the level of progress in many rural areas. In Athy, the Shackleton experience is led by the local community, in par…

The Deputy is very touchy about it.

Over €440 million has been invested in 160 projects through the RRDF since 2020. Many of those projects are now coming to fruition. Some €140 million has been invested in the town and village renewal scheme, which has dealt with 1,000 projects since 2020, owned and driven by local communities and local authorities. Under the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme, €110 million has been invested in dereliction, to a lesser extent. The Deputy has suggested nothing is happening.

He has seen tens of thousands of buildings, but he will also see, should he choose to see it, much progress and that things are happening on the ground. We are providing that level of investment through the RRDF and town and village renewal and we want to provide more. We will provide more investment and the Department is focused on that through Our Rural Future. That is why we have invested in our town regeneration officers across the country, who work in partnership with the Department of Housing, Local Governmen…

I thank the Deputy for his interest in this. As I said in reply to Deputy Stanley, since we introduced the LIS in 2017, over €200 million has been allocated to local authorities. The Minister of State and I confirmed the 2026 scheme will have an additional initial funding application of €17.5 million, representing an increase. Kerry County Council was allocated €1.13 million in initial funding for LIS in 2026, representing an increase in the initial allocation of over €1 million in 2025. Following our announcement …

I agree. Looking at the figures, it is a particularly long list in Kerry. The Deputy is not the only Kerry Deputy who has made a special case for the county; there is also the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Foley, and other colleagues. We have put over €200 million into the LIS in less than ten years. It has made a difference around the country. I am aware of the length of the waiting lists and I am aware of the scheme. I make a very special case indeed for County Mayo, given its size, but I have other co…

As well as giving us a tour of Kerry, the Deputy has raised a very important issue. I share the Deputy's concern about the severity of rain and the damage it is doing, as well as the severity of hard winters that are damaging roads. The Minister of State and I will be looking within the Department at some sort of uniformity. Some councils are spending a lot more per km than others. The disparity is quite significant. I do not want to be in a situation where we dictate to councils how they spend their money. That wo…

I thank the Deputy for her ongoing interest in this with the Minister of State and I. As she knows, the town centre first policy is a key Government initiative. Within this Department, we share the town centre first policy with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and I met with the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, so that we can continue to ensure town centre first is relevant and delivering a real impact across rural towns and villages into the future. Significant progress has been made sinc…

I like the concept of the village heart. We have worked and models in Fingal, St. Margaret's, Rush and Ballyboughal. We ensured funding under town and village renewal. They are more rural villages and meet the population criteria. I have asked my officials to examine those examples with a view to a pilot. I cannot comment on budget 2027. It is far too early to actually comment on it but regardless of budget, we have to look at the schemes and protect those suburban villages and protect their heart. It is also a goo…

Absolutely. The Deputy is very much pushing an open door here. The Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, Deputy Chambers, has had similar discussions with me on this issue. The Minister of State in my Department, Deputy Buttimer, has mentioned Bishopstown, Douglas and other villages in Cork. We need to keep the focus on the actual scheme, however. The scheme has been successful. It has been tightly defined in terms of projects and what can be achieved. We have to…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 96, 125 and 137 together. I thank Deputy O'Shea for his question. The Our Rural Future policy is delivering vital investment and supports to rural areas, strengthening local economies and improving quality of life across rural Ireland. Our programme for Government includes a commitment to publish and implement a new Our Rural Future policy. The development of this policy has been informed by very extensive public and stakeholder consultation, which took place throughout 2025. It gat…

I am very much focused on and in alignment with the Deputy's vision. We have made significant progress. Through budget 2026, we are investing €600 million in communities across the country, particularly through the rural development investment programme, which will see a total of €192 million invested this year. The various initiatives have been developed in capital programmes in a targeted way, but also, as I have said consistently this morning, they are directed and owned by communities, either through local auth…

I thank the Deputy. We were delighted to be with him in Baile Bhuirne in April, which is a good example of Departments working together under the RRDF, Roinn na Gaeltachta agus Údaras na Gaeltachta to reimagine Coláiste Íosagáin into the hub that it is now. That was a good example of Departments coming together. We have invested €440 million in 160 RRDF projects since 2020. We have invested €140 million in over 1,000 town and village renewal projects since 2020 and €110 million in over 1,200 projects under the outd…

I thank the Deputy for his ongoing interest in this issue. As he knows, the current programme for Government commits to the establishment of a new communities initiative, similar in style to the previous RAPID programme, whereby all State agencies work together to implement community development and town centre rejuvenation. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I prioritised the development of this programme in 2026. We are in a position to announce €5 million in capital funding. We are currently finalising …

I thank the Deputy for the invitation. We will bear it in mind. There will be relevant areas in the Deputy's constituency, which is not something we should be proud about. There has not been an urban disadvantage programme that includes capital investment. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, is doing huge work with SICAP but this programme needs to make a difference and we need to ensure it is not wasted and the money goes directly to projects and communities. What I do not want is for it to go into administrat…

I know, and the Deputy has touched on something there about initiative exhaustion. That is important because we are often asking the same people in communities to lead out on these on the ground. We are generally always asking the same people in local authorities and in local development companies to drive these on the ground. That is something both the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I will reflect on. It is important that we get the scheme back, that we have it on the books of the Department, that it grow…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as an invitation go dtí Port Láirge. Beimid ann i gceann cúpla seachtain. Táim ag súil leis an gcuairt sin. Mar a dúirt mé, tá scéim le haghaidh árais phobail. Tá sé ag oscailt. Tá scéim le haghaidh árais phobail nua ag oscailt an bhliain seo chugainn. Beimid in ann é sin a reáchtáil. Faoi Acht na Gaeltachta, 2012, tugtar aitheantas do líonra Gaeilge nuair a bhíonn pleananna teanga aontaithe acu lena bpobal. Ní mór do na pleananna sin na critéir pleanála teanga a chomhlíonadh le go …

Aontaím go mór leis an Teachta. Beidh sé suimiúil é sin a phlé lá eile. Faoi scéimeanna tacaíochta Gaeilge i mo Roinn, cuirtear maoiniú suntasach ar fáil do thionscnaimh éagsúla chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn taobh amuigh den Ghaeltacht. Déantar sin trí eagraíochtaí, lena n-áirítear Conradh na Gaeilge, Glór na nGael, Gaeloideachas, Gael Linn agus Oireachtas na Gaeilge. Faigheann na heagraíochtaí sin a mbunmhaoiniú ó Fhoras na Gaeilge. Tugann mo Roinn maoiniú breise dóibh le haghaidh tionscnaimh straitéiseacha ch…

Tuigim an dualgas an Ghaeilge nó an Ghaeltacht a chosaint. Tá sé sin lárnach i mo chuid oibre. B’fhéidir go mbeidh seans againn an tsuirbhé shuimiúil ó Fhoras na Gaeilge, a foilsíodh an tseachtain seo, a phlé sa Teach. Leagann sé amach figiúirí an-úsáideacha don chomhrá seo. Leagann sé dúshlán amach agus cuireann sé na figiúirí ar fáil. Is é seo an chéad uair go bhfuil an t-eolas againn ar na dearcthaí sin agus beimid in ann cuidiú leis seo. Mar a dúirt mé, tá na scéimeanna ann. Táimid ag cuidiú le daoine Gaeilge a…