I thank the Deputy for raising this specific issue which also relates to carers. As the Deputy knows, carer's allowance is a means-tested payment for carers who, on a full-time basis, look after certain people in need of full-time care and attention, where the carer's income falls below certain limits. At the end of August 2020, there were 87,733 people in receipt of carer's allowance and the projected expenditure is approximately €919 million. The means test for carer's allowance is probably the most generous in t…

I thank the Deputy. I understand the point he is making. This is part of a wider debate that crosses into health policy. He will understand that the key role of my Department is income support. We are charged with identifying where a person has an income support need and providing that support in the form, for instance, of a jobseeker's payment, a disability allowance or a carer's allowance. I agree we need to look at the wider picture. There are opportunities for people who could remain at home but the question is…

I am not taking away from the wonderful work that carers do throughout the country. They do the State a great service through what they do for people who need this support and assistance, whether elderly people or people with disabilities. They provide a vital service. The Deputy has hit the nail on the head as to whether it is about an income and paying somebody for a job they do or income support. I congratulate the Deputy, who is now the Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community …

I will be happy to engage with him through the committee. It is not confined to one Department. There is a bigger conversation to be had and it is important that we have it.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The PUP was introduced as an emergency measure to provide an income support to those who had lost their employment as a result of Covid. A flat payment rate was introduced to ensure that the scheme was simple and accessible for the unprecedented number of applicants. On 26 June 2020, the PUP moved to two rates of payment. This change more closely linked the rate of payment to the amount that individuals previously earned. For employees, the greater of their gross weekly ea…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. As he said, we are working through them and we will try to expedite all these issues as quickly as we can.

I thank the Deputy for raising this question on the extent to which the processing of applications for various social welfare payments can be expedited. My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that accurate decisions on entitlements are made as quickly as possible. Processing targets for my Department are set out each year in the Revised Estimates Volume for the public service and kept under review. Processing statistics show the majority of schemes off…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The designation of the northern and western region by the EU as a region in transition underscores the importance of achieving balanced regional development as our economy and population continue to grow. The programme for Government places a strong emphasis on balanced regional development as our economy and population continue to grow and does this through a range of measures. My Department supports this commitment through targeted investment that supports rural regenera…

I am aware of these matters, being from the northern and western region, as is the Deputy. I have met with the Northern and Western Regional Assembly on two occasions in recent months, most recently at the end of July in Ballaghaderreen. I heard first-hand of its concerns about the new European regional development fund, ERDF, funding and how important it is that it should get the opportunity to administer it, as it did in the past. I have passed those concerns on to my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditur…

There has been considerable investment, which is not to take away from the fact that we want to see more investment. Some €5.6 million was invested under the regional enterprise development fund, €22.3 million was invested under the rural regeneration fund and €9.1 million was invested under the urban regeneration and development fund. In my last Department, I established a €28 million Border economic stimulus package and that provided a support of €15 million for projects across the Border counties, which are also…

I thank Deputy Sherlock for raising this issue. As he will be aware, the provision of transport services, including for rural areas, is the responsibility of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and the National Transport Authority, NTA. Continued operation of the public transport system is among the designated essential services that have carried on throughout the Covid-19 crisis and transport operators and their staff must be thanked for their dedication to providing what is a vital service for rural are…

I agree with Deputy Sherlock. There needs to be cross-Government thinking, and there has been. As part of the rural development policy I have engaged right across all of the Departments because everybody has an input into this policy. Local Link, which the Deputy mentioned, is one of the best rural transport initiatives that we have. Some of the local companies are really good at the joined-up thinking that we need. For example, in Cavan and Monaghan, with which I am familiar, there is an integration of the service…

I absolutely agree with Deputy Sherlock. That is something I will certainly work closely on with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. There is €2 million in the July stimulus package for new and expanded local bus services. There is also €250,000 to support the transition of Local Link services to zero-emission vehicles in areas of rural Ireland. A total of €21 million is being provided to improve rail journeys and that will primarily support works along the Dublin to Cork line. There is a commitment to …

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. This year's town and village renewal scheme has been tailored to assist our rural towns and villages to respond to the challenges presented by Covid-19. The scheme includes an accelerated measure to enable towns and villages to introduce initiatives immediately in order to support increased footfall and enable people to shop and socialise safely in accordance with public health guidelines. The scheme also includes a standard measure that places a focus this year on the rec…

The town and village scheme is close to my heart because I first established it when I had responsibility for the rural development brief in 2016. I am glad to see that it has gone from strength to strength. It has seen millions of euro invested in rural towns and villages across the country. It has a bottom-up approach where communities are able to engage with one another, identify what they want to do in their towns and submit applications for funding. We originally had a budget of €15 million for the scheme. I h…

We increased it. There is still money left in the pot. It is targeted at the larger towns but there is nothing to stop the villages applying under the standard town and village scheme which is still open for applications until 30 September. I will leave it to places that have not been successful to continue to engage with the Department and put in amended or adjusted applications that may qualify for funding.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue, in which I have a great interest. The pilot town centre living initiative was launched in October 2018 to explore in a holistic way how to encourage increased residential occupancy in rural towns and villages. The pilot focused on six towns with different characteristics in different parts of the country. Funding of up to €100,000 was made available to each of the participating local authorities to support their work. An independent report on the pilot town centre living in…

The point is that it is a complex issue, there is no doubt about that. If it was easy it would have been solved years ago. I want to see more people living in the centre of towns. It is about more than buying a house and moving in, many more issues need to be considered so that it is attractive for people. There are significant costs associated with repairing older buildings which are in poor structural condition and often have protected status. Adapting older buildings to modern building standards and requirements…

We are learning from it. There are really good findings that can be applied to other towns across the country. This is not just about my Department alone but it is cross-Government. For example, in my own town of Clones, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government has done really wonderful work in centre of town regeneration. It spent close to €5 million in refurbishing derelict buildings. It has taken some time but it is nearly complete. It is a fantastic initiative. My Department is responsible for t…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. LEADER is a multi-annual programme with a budget of €250 million over the period from 2014 to 2020. Some €225 million of this budget has been allocated to the local actions groups, LAGs, which deliver the programme at a local level. The balance of €25 million is provided for specific, thematic projects and is allocated at national level once projects have been approved by the LAG. The total funding allocated to the local action group in County Clare is in excess of €8.9 mi…