Earlier this year, together with Government colleagues, I announced details of €50 million in funding for more than 880 projects under the community recognition fund. At its core, this fund recognises the huge efforts of communities that have gone above and beyond to welcome and support people coming to Ireland. It is supporting towns and villages nationwide that have shown such generosity in welcoming people from Ukraine and other countries. The fund aims to support the development of facilities that will be used …

A total of €50 million has been allocated. It has gone to every county. Some counties put in a few big projects, while other counties put in a large number of smaller projects. This year, €30 million is allocated to be spent, while €20 million is allocated to be spent next year. That is because some of the projects, particularly the larger ones, may take longer than others. The first tranche of invoices are due into my Department by 6 October. Very little has been spent to date because the first drawdown deadline i…

Just to clarify for the Deputy, altogether we announced €50 million in funding. We said that €30 million had to be spent this year and €20 million next year. All the projects have been announced, but some projects are bigger and it is going to take them a bit longer. That is why we have allowed them a bit more time to spend. There is €50 million in funding. Regarding another fund, again that would be part of any budget negotiations that will take place in line with the national development plan ceilings. We will lo…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 55 and 77 together. The CLÁR programme provides funding for small-scale projects in designated rural areas that have experienced significant levels of depopulation over a defined period. Since the programme was relaunched in 2016, it has supported over 2,100 projects with funding of over €59 million. This funding is making a real difference in many of our smaller and more remote communities. I launched the 2023 programme in March this year. Funding of almost €8 million has been allo…

The Deputy is dead right. The CLÁR programme does not have a huge fund, but it is a very impactful and important fund. I always make a point of trying to visit the communities that have put a lot of effort and work into fundraising themselves. I have seen the improvement in school carparks, playgrounds and indeed many other worthwhile projects, and I can say that CLÁR is small but impactful. The maximum funding provided under measure 1 is €50,000. Measure 2 supports mobility, cancer care and community first respond…

All I can say is that it is a small grant that makes a big difference in communities. Deputy Griffin is right that it would take a long time to raise €50,000. In this regard, I learned a lesson many years ago when a community group got what was a very small grant in the overall scheme of things. It might have been €10,000, or not even that much. Those concerned rang me up and said to me they would be standing a long time at the traffic lights in Monaghan before they would collect €10,000 in the bucket. It goes to s…

I thank the Deputy very much for raising this. I am pleased to inform him that I launched Our Living Islands, an ambitious new ten-year national policy designed to support vibrant and sustainable island communities, in June of this year. Our Living Islands is the first whole-of-government policy for the islands to be published in 27 years. It is accompanied by the first action plan for the period 2023 to 2026 and includes 80 new time-bound actions that have been agreed to and will be implemented by various stakehol…

I thank the Deputy. I was on Bere Island. In fact, I logged in from that island to attend a Cabinet meeting remotely. I think that was the first time that happened. They actually have really good ideas on the island. I met some of the people in the community. Some of them went all the way to Arranmore for the launch of the policy. It was good to see them there because it is a long journey from Donegal to Bere Island. Croí Cónaithe is a really good scheme, as the Deputy knows. If you live on an island, you get an ad…

I will do that.

Sorry, what are you talking about?

Tá mé finished.

These are all areas that impact other Departments but I am happy to raise them with the various Ministers to see how we can make our islands more vibrant and have more people living on them. There is a great sense of positivity on the islands at the moment. The islanders see a bright future. Arranmore is a particularly good example. There is a good remote working hub on the island. Tourism has been developed and many things are happening. We want to build on that. Each Department has a role to play and I will certa…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 59 and 75 together. The rural regeneration and development fund provides funding for the development and construction of significant and transformative capital projects in towns, villages and rural areas across Ireland. The fund is central to achieving the objectives and key deliverables of the Government's five-year policy for rural Ireland, Our Rural Future: Rural Development Policy 2021-2025. At the heart of Our Rural Future is a commitment to revitalising towns and villages acro…

I have visited a good few projects and have seen them first-hand. Delivery is ramping up with the funding from my Department. There is a strong pipeline of projects. I was in Fethard, County Tipperary, earlier in the year, where a magnificent amenity has been developed. It is a remote working and community space. It is something else. I have been in Waterford, Kilkenny, Longford, Sligo, Meath and Roscommon and I was in Limerick last week, where I visited the Flying Boat and Maritime Museum in Foynes, which received…

Funding of €409 million has been approved for 215 projects. We have to get the money spent. There is no doubt that there have been delays due to different issues. That is why we now have category 2 funding. It means that people can have all their plans made and planning permission received. They can apply for category 2 funding to get the project ready and then they can apply for category 1 funding to complete it. When they receive the money they should be ready to press the button and go. There is a good bit of jo…

I welcome the opportunity to discuss this important issue. I thank the Senators for their contributions and for bringing forward the motion. This is a timely discussion. I will host my Department's pre-budget forum next week when I will sit down with all the advocacy groups, including those representing carers. The Government is aware of the valuable work being carried out by family carers across the country. As a result, we have taken extensive measures to support carers over recent years. The main income supports…

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. The Indecon cost of disability report was prepared following extensive consultation with disabled people and disability stakeholders. It is one of the largest disability surveys ever undertaken in the State. The report established that additional costs of disability run across a number of policy areas, including housing, equipment, aids and appliances, care and assistance, mobility, transport, communications, medicines, employment and income support. Based on this, one of …

My plan is to publish the straw man proposal and then sit down with stakeholders to get their views on it. We want an open conversation. It worked well in the past when we sat down. The straw man proposal is just about putting out some ideas. We will take from it and add to it but we will have that conversation. I take the points raised by the Deputy. There will always be a debate on targeted supports compared with universal supports. Universal supports sometimes mean taking resources away from those who need them …

It will be in the third quarter of the year. It is at an advanced stage. I am happy to hear the views of the Deputy on the matter because we want to get this right. For the first time, I will be considering tiered payments for disability. It is the right way to go. It is clear that a person with a profound disability needs more support than a person who may be able to work. We have the reasonable accommodation fund. I am doing a consultation on that as well. It provides help to employers, allows people who have dis…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The report of the child maintenance review group was published last November. The Government accepted the group's recommendations regarding the social welfare system. I am pleased to say that, pending the introduction of the necessary legislation, my Department has already implemented some of the recommended changes on an administrative basis. As a result, my Department is no longer applying the efforts to seek maintenance requirement to the one-parent family payment and …