The events we saw in Dublin last Thursday have shocked decent people across the country. Three innocent little children and their carer were attacked. The city was in shock and our thoughts remain with those affected. Later, shops were looted and buses were set on fire, and there were open attacks on members of the Garda. The message this House needs to send out loud and clear tonight to the thugs and degenerates responsible is one of zero tolerance. Yet, when unity was needed, what did Sinn Féin do? It grandstande…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." As Deputies know, the purpose of the Bill is to give legislative effect to the changes announced on budget day. In addition, this year reforms to the State pension are included in the Bill. These measures form part of the Government’s response to the Pensions Commission’s recommendations. One of the most important of these, and one I believe is endorsed by all members of this House, is to provide enhanced access to the State contributory pension for long-term carer…

That is outrageous-----

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. There are 330 public libraries providing an excellent service throughout the country. On the provision of new libraries, my Department has provided significant capital funding to support local authorities, with funding of €29 million provided under the previous libraries capital programme for the period 2016 to 2022 for 17 projects, of which 12 were new library buildings. One of the key strategic actions of the new public library strategy, The Library is the Place, is the…

Cork City Council submitted an application for the libraries capital programme funding for the extension and refurbishment of the Frank O'Connor Library in Mayfield. This project is a joint development with St. Joseph's Community Centre. It is a priority project for the council. The project is being progressed through my Department's four-stage capital management process. This ensures that the project complies with the public library national standards of benchmarks, which guide the development of the public librar…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 and 12 together. As part of Our Rural Future, the Government is committed to ensuring the LIS is funded into the future. This reflects the important contribution the scheme makes to connectivity in rural areas. LIS was reintroduced by my Department in 2017 following several years with no dedicated funding. Since then, almost €130 million has been allocated towards repair works on approximately 4,000 non-public roads and lanes, benefiting more than 16,000 landowners and residents i…

It is 3,500.

The Deputy is right that this year I allocated over €30 million. That is treble the funding that was available for the LIS a couple of years ago. Any time I find savings in my Department, the first place they go is into the LIS. That goes to show my commitment to the scheme. The Deputy knows himself that this scheme was previously funded by the Department of Transport, which has a very sizeable capital budget compared with my Department's. I believe the Department of Transport has a role to play here. If it were to…

I take every opportunity to put any extra resources I have in my Department into the local improvement scheme, and I will tell the House why. When I was growing up I lived on a lane that was one mile long and full of potholes. There was some scheme at that stage as well and eventually the lane got repaired, but I know what it is like. When you are on a bicycle trying to avoid potholes, it is not easy. I have continued to build on the investment we got then. In fact, since 2017, my Department, which is only a small …

I was glad to visit there. What happened to the people of Carlingford was terrible. In fairness, my Department of Social Protection really stepped up to the plate and helped them in any way we could. That is what this Government is here to do. We are here to help people when they need help and we will continue to do that.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 37 together. Our Rural Future sets out the Government's vision for the future of rural Ireland, which recognises the vital role that vibrant and thriving rural towns and villages have to play. With this in mind, I have put in place a range of capital investment schemes as part of my Department's rural development investment programme which rural communities can avail of. I was delighted to secure an overall rural development allocation of over €205 million as part of the recen…

The closing date for the town and village renewal scheme was only last Friday. The Deputy is not letting any grass grow under his feet; he is in there already. My Department has received an application from the Order of Malta in Mayo for, I understand, around €475,000 to restore and renovate the order's headquarters in Castlebar. Obviously, those applications will have to be assessed. I expect it will be around March 2024 before decisions are taken because there are many applications to assess, as the Deputy will a…

I will be like the Minister with the loaves and fishes but we will do our best. This town and village renewal scheme really is working well. I remember when it started in 2016, we started by fixing the footpaths but we have really moved on now. We have all that and the public realm piece sorted. Now we are looking at the buildings and at converting old buildings. For example, in Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim, a former bakery was purchased for €270,000. Under the scheme in 2023, an application of €495,000 for t…

If they do not get it under that scheme, there is another, which only opened last Friday, and that is the rural regeneration development fund. Deputy Murnane O'Connor should consider that fund for a new library because I opened a beautiful library in Castleblaney last Friday. It would do your heart good to see it because there was an old building there. There was ivy and trees growing out of it and it was in the middle of the town. Deputies should see it now. It is absolutely transformed. That is what we are about.…

I was down in Waterford with the Acting Chair too.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Our Rural Future scheme recognises the opportunity for rural rejuvenation that remote working presents and commits to establishing an integrated national network of 400 remote working hubs by 2025. I am pleased that we are well on our way to meeting this commitment. There are now 330 hubs onboarded to the connectedhubs.ie platform and this number is growing all the time. The initial focus of the connected hubs initiative was on establishing the network and achieving th…

It was my idea to do this voucher scheme because we wanted to get bums on seats. We wanted to introduce people to the hubs and make them aware of them. It worked well because now we have nearly 75% occupancy in our remote working hubs. The voucher scheme was probably of its time and I want to look forward now because I want to consider sustainability into the future. I know costs are rising and that some of the hubs may need some support to run them and to provide the facility. We will examine all the options. The …

I thank Deputy Dillon. As he knows, during the Covid pandemic, I was the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, then moved into the rural community space. I was absolutely committed to remote working because I could see it was going to change rural Ireland, and it did change it. We asked the Western Development Commission to roll out the connected hubs platform and it has been working hard on that. It has been doing that and working on our behalf. We fund it to do that work. I have to say it is useful. S…

There are a number of different funders. The Deputy is coming with details.

The right to request remote working has been integrated into the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023, and under the Act allows all employees a right to request remote working. This important legislation is one of a number of steps taken by this Government to support and empower remote workers who can support vibrant, inclusive and sustainable rural communities. Accordingly, under Our Rural Future, my Department has invested in co-working hubs across the country and is leading the development of …