The Commission is talking specifically about CAP. We have all the other schemes the Government is putting money into to support rural Ireland, which is what the Commission wants to see also. It wants to see the governments are putting investment in. We have the rural regeneration and development fund, from which the sum of €347 million has been allocated to 164 projects since 2018. The town and village renewal scheme has been allocated €93 million since 2016. The outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme has been al…

Yes, we are sharing.

The local improvement scheme, LIS, supports the improvement of rural roads and laneways that are not normally maintained by local authorities. As part of Our Rural Future, the Government is committed to ensuring the scheme is funded into the future. The LIS was reintroduced in 2017 following a number of years with no dedicated funding in place. The scheme is administered locally by the relevant local authority, which is responsible for prioritising and selecting eligible applications within broad parameters set by …

I made a large additional allocation last year, which was welcomed, and I am committed to supporting the LIS. Some local authorities did not spend all of their allocation last year. Donegal was one of those. Its spend was €35,000 short. We allowed it to carry that amount into this year, but its 2022 allocation has been reduced as a result of the shortfall in delivery. The assessment is not uniform. As the Deputy knows, different local authority engineers in different municipal areas will deem some roads on the list…

Funding is allocated each year based on the geographical area of each county, with a minimum and a maximum allocation applied, and the basis for allocating funds is reviewed each year. My Department has received indicative figures from the local authorities for the applications on hand. We need to be sure that the figures provided for each county are comparable. The officials are examining these issues and consulting local authorities. It takes time, but the most important point to make is that we are making some i…

The focus of the LIS is to support the continued improvement of rural roads and laneways that are not normally maintained by local authorities but that represent vital infrastructure for rural residents. The scheme is also used to fund non-public roads leading to important community amenities such as graveyards, beaches, piers, mountain access points or other tourism and heritage sites. My Department provides an allocation of funding each year to the local authorities for works on these roads. The selection of road…

I know exactly what the Deputy is talking about. When I was being reared on a farm, I lived on a lane that was a mile long. I know all about potholes on a lane. We had to swerve the bikes to get past them. I also know about septic tanks because I have a well and a septic tank.

The LIS was always funded by the Department of Transport. In fairness, my predecessor, Deputy Ring, brought the scheme back and I have continued it. We doubled the funding for LIS last year and increased the funding available in the budget for 2022. My county is the same as the Deputy's; it is rural and it has lots of roads but I have to cut my cloth to measure and divide up the pot we get. I have raised this matter with the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, who has responsibility for roads. In view of the…

I know about the milk tanks coming in these roads and there were a few concerns that they would not come in any more because they were in such bad condition. Thankfully, I am aware of one case where the road was fixed and the milk tanker is going in to collect the milk. The Deputy will appreciate that and I mention the challenges that rural people face. The only thing I have to make to him is that I have to cut my cloth to measure. If I give more money to the LIS, where does he want me to take it out of? It will ha…

I know this is something the Deputy has raised with me on a number of occasions. The development of the Caladh Mór pier on Inis Meáin is included in the NDP. As the Deputy will be aware, Galway County Council is responsible for the development of stage 3 of this project. As part of the preparatory works, the National Maritime College of Ireland was requested by Galway County Council to develop a model simulation for the harbour. The council has collated the technical specifications of the key vessels that use the h…

We need the draft business case from Galway County Council and these different surveys have to feed into it. To be honest with the Deputy, I had to ask my officials what a bathymetric report is. Apparently it measures the depth of the waters, the underwater features and the marine species. It is a mapping of the sea floor. I am asking the same questions the Deputy is asking. She has raised this with me frequently and I have asked my officials the same questions such as how long it takes to do these reports. It is h…

If I knew how to do these reports, I would do them myself and I am sure the Deputy would do the same because it seems to be going on and on. Work has been done on the pier. As we know, it is dangerous for the ferry operators to come in when the tide is at a certain level. There is an issue impacting the cargo ferry in that there are many occasions on which large differences in the sea levels, created by the swell, prevent their docking safely at Inis Meáin. I know about the factory there, which is creating much-nee…

I thank the Deputy for his words of encouragement. Our Rural Future, Ireland's Rural Development Policy 2021-25, recognises the potential of remote working hubs as key economic assets for our rural towns and villages. Accordingly, over recent years, my Department has invested some €100 million in the sector to build, improve and expand hubs. In May 2021, I launched the national hub network. This currently comprises 236 remote and co-working facilities across the State. These facilities have been onboarded to connec…

Deputy O'Connor referred to Youghal. I had a great time there with him and Deputy Stanton. It is wonderful what is happening in the town. It certainly is being regenerated and if there is any support we can give to people there, we will, of course, do so. I visited the boardwalk, which is a great addition to the town. Well done to those involved. This is what I want to see happening. There are many different opportunities to apply for funding from my Department and I want to see a bottom-up approach in order to mak…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As she knows, the Government is committed to publishing a ten-year policy on island development, with associated three-year action plans. My Department has completed the bilateral meetings with all relevant Departments. These bilateral meetings have provided an opportunity for detailed discussion of the issues raised by island communities and for Departments to assess how they might help address the various issues raised. The public consultation meetings have also been com…

Public consultation meetings have begun and have been held on a number of island communities before Covid-19 restrictions resulted in the suspension of the process. Online public consultation meetings were then arranged for the remaining island communities via videoconference call, although this was logistically more challenging due to various factors such as broadband quality. Thankfully, that has improved on some of the islands since then. Online meetings were not held with Clare Island or Tory due to lack of onl…

There is a strong commitment across Government to support development of the islands. I could give a list of the different things that have happened on the islands recently. There has been much more investment in them. There has been a major focus on them since responsibility for them has come into the Department of Rural and Community Development. I think that is recognised. Significant consultation has been undertaken with island communities. There has been a wide consultation process with Departments and Governm…

The town and village renewal scheme is part of a range of measures to support the revitalisation of rural areas. The programme is funded under Project Ireland 2040 as part of Our Rural Future. The scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the local authorities. Since the introduction of the scheme in 2016, more than €113 million has been approved for more than 1,400 projects throughout the country. In February this year, I announced almost €18.5 million for projects under the 2021 scheme which will benef…

In response to Deputy Stanton, CPOs are a matter for the local authorities. It will be up to them to decide to purchase a property compulsorily. We will give them the money and they will need to go through the procedure. They can acquire it. The building acquisition measure is a new stream within the town and village renewal scheme. It will provide up to €400,000 to each local authority to purchase vacant and derelict buildings in rural towns and villages for development as community assets. That is something to wh…

Deputy Carroll MacNeill is dead right to make the case. I suggest the council continues to send in applications. Kilternan got €80,000 in 2017. Stepaside got €100,000 in 2018. I encourage the Deputy's local council to keep sending applications. The urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, under the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage offers possibilities in tackling larger areas of population. There is also the connected hubs fund. Whether remote working facilities are private or run by a loc…