I encourage the Deputy to speak to the local authority. As I said, there were many cases where prominent buildings in local towns and villages were identified. In the Deputy's own county, for example, the FCA hall in Mitchelstown was acquired and is being turned into a space for community use. Some people use it as maybe a home for the men's shed or women's shed. This is very much a bottom-up approach. It is about engaging with the community. The community identifies a building they can perhaps use and works with t…

I am delighted to confirm to the Deputy that I launched Our Living Islands, which is an ambitious ten-year policy designed to support vibrant and sustainable island communities. I launched the policy on Árainn Mhór off the coast of County Donegal on Wednesday, 7 June. I had the Irish version of the policy in my hand when I launched it. That was important. I fully understand that we should have the policy in Irish and I ensured we did. The policy draws on the unique strengths and assets of the islands and sets out u…

I know the Deputy has an interest in this issue because she has raised it with me on many occasions. I am pleased to say the policy has now been published. It is a good policy. I met the islanders' representative groups from across the different islands and I must say that on the day, they welcomed the policy, which contains a number of initiatives. I want to see quality remote working hubs developed on every island and new e-health pods. I want high-speed broadband to deliver new opportunities for education throug…

I will go back to the issue of the Irish language copy of the document. We had hard copies as Gaeilge on the island on the day. They were translated. I had them in my hand, both copies of the action plan and the policy document. It went up later online, but they were definitely there on the day - in fact, that morning. We have a monitoring committee here. I only launched the strategy last week and I have officials working on the next steps in terms of the monitoring committee. There will be representatives from Com…

Let this policy settle now and see how it goes. I am happy that we will make progress.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue - an issue that is close to my heart too. The LIS supports the improvement of rural roads and lane-ways that are not normally maintained by local authorities. As part of Our Rural Future, the Government is committed to ensuring that the LIS is funded into the future. The scheme was reintroduced by my Department in 2017 following a number of years with no dedicated funding. I am committed to improving connectivity for rural residents, whether it be access to homes, farms or …

I thank the Deputy. All I can say to him is - and I think he will acknowledge this - I have been pumping the money into the LIS. Over the past five years, my Department has allocated €114 million. In fairness to the former Minister, Deputy Ring, he started the ball rolling.

I know what it is like if the milk lorry cannot get in to get the milk or the meal lorry cannot get in to deliver the meal. I fully understand that. I grew up on a farm and I lived on a lane that was a mile long. There were potholes on it sometimes and you would nearly get lost - bicycle and all. I explain to the officials in the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, as the Deputy does, what these local improvement schemes are. They are not private lanes. The Deputy is dea…

I appreciate that Kerry is a large county but so, too, are the resources we have allocated to it. As I have said, since 2017, at more than €7 million, it is the fifth highest allocation in the country. I have put a call out now and Kerry needs to put in what it is capable of doing.

It should be noted that Kerry had an LIS underspend in 2022, which represented almost 10% of the total allocation. The local authority did not spend €145,000. That is not the Deputy's fault. That is not my fault.

The Deputy might have a word with them because I would be doing the same in my county - have a word with them - if they did not spend it. It is like this. I will do what I can. In addition, as the Deputy will be aware, I am not the Department of roads but, as I said, we try to support this work. If there is any money that is unspent in any other Department, I am happy to take it and put it in the roads. There is no doubt about that. I am happy for any underspend in roads to go to the LIS schemes. We will spend it.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I was delighted to publish Our Living Islands, the national islands policy last week. The commitments in the policy will be delivered progressively over its lifetime and implementation will be underpinned by three-year action plans, the first of which I also published last week alongside the policy. A whole-of-government approach has been taken in the development of the Our Living Islands and a co-ordinated and cohesive approach in a range of Departments will be required …

I launched the strategy only last week. I will engage with islanders and there will be representation on the interdepartmental group. They have welcomed it. As I was about to say earlier, this is a living document and, as with any policy, it can change. I want to hear from islanders on the interdepartmental group at which they will be represented, regarding what is working and how we can make it better and how we can change what is not working. As I said, the strategy was launched only last week. I want to ensure t…

I am well aware of these issues, given I visited the islands within the past year or two. I walked the pier and I know all about the matter. There have been the first two phases of the Inis Meáin project, as we know, and the simulation has now finished. I wanted to make that clear because it took a long time, given these waves cause problems. When the second phase began, a problem was discovered with the waves. It is now a matter for Galway County Council, which is to put together a business case. When I receive th…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 69, 85 and 99 together. The Government recognises the important role community centres play in community life, bringing people together and engaging with those who may be marginalised or disadvantaged. I am always struck by the immense pride communities have in their locality. The community centre should be a safe, positive and accessible space for all manner of community activities and I want to ensure community centres will remain a hive of activity. As Minister, I have placed a h…

I thank the Deputies for their input. Initially, the fund for the upgrade of the community centres was €45 million. A lot of applications came in. It was initially anticipated that there would be €15 million in this fund but I was able to find savings from other areas. I know this is an important one and that many communities are benefiting. I was even out in Deputy Donnelly's own constituency in Hartstown and it was well-received that day. The community was delighted. The community centre certainly needed a faceli…

We work with people and we have a degree of flexibility and common sense, to be fair. Again, we engage with the Department or with Pobal at the minute. It all comes from my Department. For the new build in Glanmire, I suggest that Deputy O'Sullivan should work with the local authority. It needs to engage. The local authority has been asked to engage with communities and to help to build capacity within communities that need new community centres. He should engage with the community section of his local authority. T…

I thank the Deputy. In May I announced details of €50 million in funding for more than 880 projects under the community recognition fund. At its core, the community recognition fund recognises the efforts of communities who have gone above and beyond what might be expected during a very challenging period. It will support towns and villages nationwide that have shown such generosity in welcoming people from Ukraine and other countries. Through this initiative communities will be assisted to develop projects ranging…

As the Deputies have all said, this is a very popular scheme. I announced the funding last month. There is €50 million allocated. It is up to the local authorities along with the community groups to get the projects delivered as quickly as possible. They need to start spending. There is no point coming back looking for more money if they have not spent what they have. I mean that. There is always pressure to get this money spent. It is about delivery, delivery and delivery. It is with the local authorities. I will …

I am just looking here at some of the projects in Cork city. Ballyphehane Togher Community Development Project got €48,000 to replace a community bus. That should not take them too long. Douglas Street in Cork city got a pocket park development and signage for a historic trail. There is some stuff here and they should be able to do it fairly smartly. Another community bus, equipment----