I thank the Deputy. Funding of €279 million has been approved to date under the rural regeneration and development fund, RRDF, for 191 projects nationwide costing over €379 million. Calls for applications to the fund are sought under two categories, namely, category 1 and category 2. Category 1 relates to large-scale ambitious capital projects with all necessary planning and other consents in place and which are ready to proceed. Category 2 provides smaller grant funding to enable the development of project proposa…

Tipperary as a county has done extremely well to date and has received the fourth-highest total county funding allocation from the fund since it began in 2018. Over €15.1 million in funding has been allocated to projects in Tipperary in that period. The Deputy was with me when I was down there and the work that is going on is wonderful. I was in Clonmel, Carrick-on-Suir and I was on the blueway. That is a wonderful connection and a real boost to that whole area. I was in Tipperary town and there has been good inves…

I thank the Deputy. He is right that good applications have to come in. I cannot give them funding unless I get the applications. For those towns in Tipperary that have not got any funding, they should work with the local authority. The applications come in through the local authority, as the Deputy knows. If I do not get an application, there is no chance of getting funding. I see here that the activating Cahir's town centre regeneration strategy is seeking funding of €11.9 million. Carrick-on-Suir is another town…

Our Rural Future, Ireland's rural development policy, recognises the potential of remote working hubs as key economic assets for our regional towns and villages. Therefore, in May 2021, I launched the national hub network and its online platform, namely, connectedhubs.ie . The network brings together a. range of hubs catering for a wide variety of enterprise, community, remote and co-working needs. The national hub network currently comprises of 281 hubs across the State. I anticipate that 300 hubs will be live on …

I know the Deputy is very familiar with the Creative Spark in Louth and The Mill in Drogheda. Those are two outstanding centres in terms of what they are doing there. I recall it was in The Mill in Drogheda that I launched the remote working app. I have been in both places this year. The connected hubs fund is there to support centres, whether they are private or publicly owned, to upgrade their facilities. For example, they could put in a privacy pod and improve their facilities. It is up to the local authorities …

I launched that voucher scheme earlier in the summer. It was designed to encourage those who have never used a hub to try it for free. It was like a sample or taster. A person could go in and use the hub for three days, free of charge. I was encouraging people to go in, try them out and see what they thought, because sitting at home is not a good idea. At least in a hub one can have a bit of interaction and talk to people. It is secure and the desks are at the right height. One will not be going home in the evening…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I am well aware of local improvement schemes because there are many lanes where I live that have benefited as, indeed, I am sure the Deputy is aware of many in his area as well. As part of Our Rural Future, the Government is committed to ensuring that the local improvement scheme, LIS, is funded into the future. The LIS supports the improvement of rural roads and laneways that are not normally maintained by local authorities. The scheme makes an important contrib…

The eligibility criteria with regard to at least two separate landowners being engaged in agricultural or harvesting activity remains a key component of eligibility for the scheme. My priority is to deal with the applications on hand in the local authorities based on the current criteria and to continue to support the rural farming community. Once this backlog of applications is addressed, we can look at widening the criteria. There are many schemes. My Department is a small one and we do not have a massive budget.…

I have stated here on numerous occasions that it is up to Cork County Council and Cork City Council to come together and find a solution to this. The money has been allocated to the county. I would love to give every county more money for the LIS, but if I were to do so, I would be taking the money out of other schemes. I have to try to balance these budgets. The point is Cork County Council and Cork City Council can figure that out themselves. The funding is being made available. The boundaries were changed but I …

As the Deputy will be aware, the Government is committed to publishing a ten-year policy on island development, with associated three-year action plans. Indeed, the programme for Government includes a commitment in this regard and, as Minister with responsibility for the islands, I am determined to ensure the policy is delivered. I have received an initial working draft of the policy, which sets out the context for the policy and defines strategic objectives. I will be meeting with my officials in the coming days t…

I will have to go through the document as I have not yet read it, but I was at the AGM and the issues relating to the islands are clear to me. There is the need to attract young people back to the islands. Planning permission is a significant issue. The islanders are concerned they cannot get planning that would allow young people to return. I was given the example of a young man who was coming back from America but could not get planning permission to build a house on the island. There is no doubt there are enviro…

The Deputy will agree that I have taken a keen interest in the islands. I have taken the trouble - I know Deputy Ó Cuív is a regular visitor to them himself - and have been on Bere Island, I have been on Arranmore twice this year already and one of the visits was to open a wonderful new seafront facility for the islanders there with huge investment under the rural regeneration fund in conjunction with Donegal County Council. I am personally committed to making sure that we deliver on this island policy but there is…

Sorry, Inis Meáin. Inis Oírr is the first one I was on, and Inis Meáin was the second. This pier was repaired many years ago. The Deputy knows more about it than I do. It does not work so now it is about how we can make it better. It is complex. Significant consultation has been undertaken with island communities. There has been wide consultation with the Departments and agencies. Bilateral meetings have been held with 13 Departments and other relevant bodies such as local authorities and Údarás na Gaeltachta. Good…

The local improvement scheme, LIS, supports the improvement of rural roads and laneways that are not normally maintained by local authorities. Rural connectivity is an important element of Our Rural Future. Such roads represent a vital piece of infrastructure for rural residents providing access to people's homes and farms as well as outdoor amenities such as lakes, rivers and beaches. The scheme is administered locally by the relevant local authority which is responsible for prioritising and selecting eligible app…

I have been doing my best on this. I gave €22 million this year in local improvement scheme funding, which I believe is the highest amount that has ever been given. I doubled it last year also. There are many competing demands in my Department. There are other schemes and with each scheme, one may want to know why funding is not forthcoming, whether it is town and village renewal or outdoor recreation schemes, or whether it is the regeneration fund, all of which are investments in rural Ireland. I have to try to ba…

My apologies to Deputy Ó Cuív as I did not answer him because I ran out of time. I will ask every county council. My officials are engaging with the local authorities and I will find out how many such applications are outstanding and what the story is. Believe you me, one gets a great deal of varied information from the different local authorities because they have different ways of working things out and of carrying out assessments. In any event, I will ask them and I will be delighted to get the support of all of…

I thank Deputy Ó Cathasaigh. The Government's ambition for a national policy and action plan for the islands was set out in the programme for Government and included in chapter 10 of Our Rural Future: Rural Development Policy 2021-2025, an action plan for rural development, published in 2021. Indeed, the process commenced in December 2019, when a consultation paper was prepared with input from the participating Departments to act as a basis to advance the development of an island policy. Over the intervening period…

I thank the Deputy. Indeed, I was on Bere Island last year and I managed to dial in remotely to attend a Cabinet meeting from there. I have to say that the hospitality I received was second to none. It is a lovely island. I met a representative of the island when I was at the annual general meeting, AGM, of Comhdháil Oileáin na hÉireann on Árainn Mhór only two weeks ago. All of the issues the Deputy has mentioned are the ones that keep coming up and the issues that were raised with me at the AGM. I am happy that be…

I fully understand how sometimes people are very isolated but I think there is an opportunity on islands, the same way as there is in rural Ireland, to embrace new technology. There is a really exciting project taking place on Clare Island, where they are looking at e-health and at how they can use new technology to enhance living on the islands. It is not easy. I have been there in the good weather but I cannot imagine what it is like in the wintertime. It cannot be easy. We want to support our island communities …

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The challenges relating to vacancy and dereliction are clearly recognised within Our Rural Future. Earlier this year, the Government published Town Centre First - A Policy Approach for Irish Towns. This is a whole-of-government policy and aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres. The policy is underpinned by significant levels of public investment spread across major Government schemes, such as the rural regeneration and develo…