The town centre first policy is a major cross-government policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres. It supports the Our Rural Future policy for a thriving rural Ireland. Last week, I attended the national town centre first day with my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Kieran O’Donnell, where I announced the second round of towns that will be provided funding to complete a town centre first plan. This funding is part of a new suite of supports I recently…

A lot of work is being done across Government to bring vacant and derelict buildings back into use. I am very much in favour of the bottom-up approach. That is why we have the town centre first officers. They will engage with the different stakeholders in the towns to get a unified approach, decide what their priorities are and get the applications in. In my Department, the focus is on utilising those buildings that are not really suitable for housing and can be converted for community use. I introduced the buildin…

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, under the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, provides the vacant home refurbishment grant of up to €70,000. There is huge demand for this scheme. I have already seen houses that have been lying idle for years being renovated. It is great to see that because many of them already have services there. There is the vacant property tax, which is still there. The Department of housing also has vacant home officers in the local authorities and is leading other schem…

I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for raising this matter. Water Safety Ireland, WSI, is the statutory, voluntary body and registered charity established to promote water safety and reduce drownings in Ireland. Water Safety Ireland’s remit includes public awareness and education. It strives to reduce drownings by changing attitudes and behaviours so that our aquatic environments can be enjoyed by all with confidence and safety. The drowning rate in Ireland has been steadily declining over recent years. In 2012, the annua…

Ireland does not have the worst drowning rates in Europe. In fact, countries such as Lithuania and Latvia have considerably more, but any drowning is just awful. I live in Monaghan where there are a lot of lakes. There are a lot of lakes in Cavan; there are 365 of them, actually. I am very well aware of the dangers of our water systems, both those at sea and on lakes in inland counties. Northern Ireland does not have full-time coverage from Easter to September. The service builds in a phased approach starting with …

We all want to reduce the number of drownings. Sadly, I know it all too well, it will not just be a matter of one drowning. A family member may go out and it could unfortunately end up being two people in the same family who drown. That has happened on many occasions. I am happy to work with Water Safety Ireland. As the Deputy knows, I will meet the chairperson shortly and I will raise the points he raised. There are two pieces here. The local authorities have responsibility for the lifeguards and Water Safety Irel…

As the Deputy will be aware, I launched Our Living Islands - the National Island Policy 2023-2033 in June of last year. Our Living Islands is a substantial document, a ten-year policy backed up by rolling three-year action plans. It has time-bound commitments so that Departments and agencies across Government can be held to account for its implementation. Following the publication of the policy, I established a monitoring committee, chaired by my Department, to engage with key Departments, agencies and local author…

The monitoring committee will meet at least twice in the full year, typically in spring and autumn. The committee may appoint subcommittees from time to time to discuss particular items as necessary. Members will be invited to submit items for inclusion on the agenda, which will be circulated in advance, and minutes will be kept at each meeting and circulated to members in advance of the next meeting. The relevant stakeholders may be invited to attend meetings of the committee or subcommittees to provide informatio…

I try to meet the islands communities at the Comhdháil na nOileán AGM if I can. I was not able to do so last year but I hope to do so this year. I like to see action, just as Deputy Connolly does. Some good things have happened on the islands. Last week, I announced the largest ever expansion of Ireland's national walks scheme with 62 new trails, across 17 counties. This includes five trails on two offshore islands, namely, Inis Meáin and Oileán Chléire. Separately, high-speed broadband has been delivered to broadb…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As the Deputy will be aware, last June I launched Our Living Islands, the national islands policy, on Arranmore island, County Donegal. The policy recognises the challenges facing the offshore islands in relation to housing, which was one of the most pressing issues of concern raised by island communities during the public consultation process for the policy. Comhdháil Oileáin na hÉireann also raised it with me directly when I spoke at its AGM in September 2022. As a resul…

Many of the actions the Deputy referred to lie with the Department of housing. However, I have engaged directly with the island communities and I know that housing is the big issue. If you are living on an island, there are additional construction costs for transporting materials. That is why I am keen, as part of our islands policy, that my Department provide the 20% top-up to the Croí Cónaithe grant for islanders. There are approximately 20 applications for Croí Cónaithe from our islanders so 20 more families wil…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 47, 60 and 67 together. The town and village renewal scheme is one of a number of measures designed to rejuvenate rural towns and villages throughout Ireland. It is a key driver of the national rural development policy, Our Rural Future, and the town centre first policy. Since the launch of the scheme in 2016, more than €156 million has been allocated to more than 1,700 projects across Ireland. As with the full range of schemes operated by my Department, there is an ongoing process …

I thank the Deputies for the issues they raised. Under the second measure in the town centre first suite of supports, Newtownmountkennedy is the designated town in County Wicklow and Kanturk is the town in County Cork. It is very much about supporting these towns. The town centre first officer who will be appointed for each county can work with towns that need that support. Youghal is a town I hear plenty about, especially from Deputy Stanton and some of his colleagues. In 2021, it was allocated €4.048 million unde…

The towns recently announced - Bagenalstown, County Carlow, was mentioned - will all get funding of €30,000 to work on their plans, and they can also get money to support their town teams and build capacity within communities. You have to encourage people to become engaged, speak up, make their views known and get the applications in. My focus is on utilising the buildings that are not really suitable for housing but that can be converted for community use. Under the buildings acquisition measure, which is a new me…

I thank Deputy Connolly for raising this issue. As the Deputy is aware, the land on which the Inishbofin airstrip is located is currently owned by Galway County Council. These lands were acquired by way of a compulsory order by Galway County Council on behalf of the Department. Part of the site is intended for eventual use by the HSE for a primary care centre. The transfer of these lands to my Department has been an ongoing process for a number of years. I understand there were outstanding legal and mapping issues …

As I said, the matter is with Galway County Council at present. My Department was in touch with it in November and again in January to get its solicitor to complete the legal aspects. The Deputy is correct. I was reading the file and the project goes back a good while, to say the least. The Inishbofin airstrip was completed in late 2010 but, in July 2013, the then Minister of State decided not to proceed with the development of terminal buildings and other works required by the Irish Aviation Authority for use of t…

I do not have the date here but we are keeping the pressure on Galway County Council. The maps have been agreed, so if there is anything the Deputy can do to ensure the council gets the necessary contracts in to us, we will be happy to get them signed and moved on. I know how important it is that there should be a primary care centre there. I will take the matter up with the Minister for Health and the HSE to see how they are proceeding because we want to see this happen but we cannot do anything until we get the t…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. My Department has policy responsibility for the Control of Dogs Act and local authorities have responsibility for all operational matters, including enforcement. The Control of Dogs Act set out a number of legal obligations with which all dog owners must comply. The Control of Dogs Regulations 1998 set out further requirements on compliance for owners of specific breeds of dogs, including crosses of those breeds. I am committed to improving outcomes in dog control in Irel…

The local authorities will be part of this stakeholder group. I updated the Government today on the work I am doing in the Department on dog control. The sum of €2 million has been provided in funding to local authorities to enable them to upgrade dog shelters and purchase equipment to support the local dog wardens in their work, but also to fund a neutering campaign. My Department is carrying out a comprehensive communication campaign on responsible dog ownership. I have the booklet with me here that has just gone…

I thank both Deputies for their questions. To go back to the dogs, I am also in contact with the local authorities. They will be on the stakeholder group. There are many different stakeholders when it comes to dogs. The farming community will be represented on it. I thank Deputy Donnelly for providing the example of Fingal County Council, which obviously runs a very good show when it comes to dog wardens and the number of dog wardens that are there. I accept that there are some cases where it is hard for one or two…