If the Government did not listen and did not engage, we would not have had a second package worth €750 million.

Language matters. It is critical. People watch and listen. I thank the men and women of An Garda Síochána for their leadership over the past seven days. I have met and spoken to them. Some of them are friends of mine. Behind the Instagram and TikTok videos, there is truth and reality. To the men and women of An Garda Síochána, let us say "Thank you", irrespective of our political ideology because without them, we would be a poorer State. All of us in this House have a mandate. We are elected by the people. We go be…

I thank Deputy Rice for raising the matter. I concur with him that we have an extraordinary dedicated library staff in Cork city right across all sections of our library service. As the Deputy will be well aware, the current libraries capital programme 2023-2027 is investing €22.6 million in 11 state-of-the-art library infrastructure projects around the country and a further €2.6 million in 12 next-generation mobile library vehicles across Ireland. Funding of €8.3 million has been provided by our Department to supp…

To clarify for the Deputy so that he knows, it is not our Department that is responsible; it is the Department of housing. To help him again, Cork City Council is the responsible local authority. I think Deputy Rice was at the briefing we had as Members of the Oireachtas with the chief executive of the city council before Christmas, where we believe the city council identified a site. Work is ongoing. Our Department is committed in terms of our responsibility. The Department of housing is equally committed, as Depu…

Deputy Rice comes in here and speaks about a cathedral of learning and it is wonderful rhetoric. I share his view. I am equally ambitious for Cork. I have been involved in public life for 21 years as a member of Cork City Council and as a Member of the Oireachtas and the library will be transformative for our city. The chief executive outlined at his briefing with us that the project in the library is one element of the overall Grand Parade project. The funding has been allocated and is ring-fenced.

The funding is ring-fenced. It is very easy for the Deputy to come in here. I have met Colette Kelleher, the chair of the action group, and I am as committed as the Deputy is. Again, it is not our Department that is responsible.

The Deputy is certainly not responsible, and it is very easy to speak to the papers and come in here and shout and roar every day but he delivers nothing but rhetoric. That is all he delivers.

Our Government will deliver a library, working with Cork City Council, which is the lead agency. The Deputy knows that himself. He was a member of Cork City Council.

We agree on the final point. We need to have a city library that is fit for purpose and our staff are the best in the country.

I join with Deputy Ward in sending our condolences to Deputy Roche. I thank the Deputy for taking the question. Our Department's mission is to promote rural and community development and support vibrant, inclusive and sustainable communities throughout Ireland. A number of programmes provide funding for staff resources to engage with and support communities, including building their capacity to access Government funding schemes. The social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, is the State’s primary …

The Deputy is right. The Minister and I are very much committed to making it easier for people and groups to apply, whether that is the local development group or the LEADER programme. I will be answering another question from Deputy Currie in a minute with probably the same replies. It is about working, in our case, with Pobal, as an example, to make it easier for people to apply and get that online guidance and support in the context of an application. If I can use the phrase, there should be no wrong door in an …

I would make the point to Deputy Ward that we already have a range of programmes on the ground that provide support and offer dedicated staff access and a pathway for applications, whether this is for SICAP, ECP or LEADER. They are assisting communities and working to engage with funding and services. For me, and I know the Deputy is the same, a core feature of what we do is not just about providing support and capital investment but about ensuring we can strengthen local areas. The Deputy is right that there is th…

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. He is right that there is a complete need for clarity and certainty around the issue of funding. The community and voluntary sector is quite diverse and receives, as he said, financial support from a wide variety of Government agencies, including our Department. The Deputy has highlighted a growth population projection of Midleton and Carrigtohill, and it is important that from a whole-of-government perspective; while working with local authorities, we get it right. That i…

We as a Department and Government are committed to funding and working on a variety of schemes, whether through the community central investment fund which the Minister, Deputy Calleary is announcing a call later today on, or as we have done in the past, with the community recognition fund. The Deputy referenced the issue of the playground. We have the very proactive outdoor recreation investment scheme as well as the town and village renewal scheme and the rural regeneration and development fund. We work as a Depa…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. There is no doubt that it takes local action groups to work and get things moving, but there is a county development plan as we know well that sets out the blueprint and roadmap for investment. Everything the Deputy has spoken about this morning in terms of provision of playgrounds, community centres, you name it, the Minister, Deputy Calleary and I are very committed to. We have met with a variety of organisations in terms of demographics and projecting future needs and …

I thank Deputy Ward for his ongoing advocacy, targeting, commentary and genuine commitment to the delivery of community-led supports. He has raised this matter on numerous occasions privately and in the Dáil. The Minister and I share the Deputy's view on tackling social disadvantage. The social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, is our country's primary social inclusion intervention programme, overseen by our Department. It is a national programme delivered in rural and urban areas by local develo…

Deputy Ward raises an interesting point. Sometimes we miss that cohort of young people. Rightly, we focus on men's sheds, women's sheds, older people's social services and that integration piece. As we saw today in the announcement by the Minister, Deputy Calleary, of the CCIF, the community centre is the hub and the visible piece that leads to the ongoing delivery of integrated supports, which directly reduces social exclusion for older people, in particular. The Deputy made a good point. Perhaps working with the …

What Cork City Council has done on the nighttime economy with no-alcohol cafés for young people is an example the Government as a whole must look at. Our Department has a variety of schemes and programmes that reflect the whole ethos of what the Deputy is trying to achieve. I am open in terms of eligibility criteria in the new call for applications under a variety of schemes, such as the CSP or SICAP, to looking at how we can broaden the remit while mindful that we do not have an infinite budget and will have loads…

I thank Deputy Ó Murchú for the question. In July 2024, prior to my appointment, the Department launched Trading for Impact, the national social enterprise policy, which was developed in partnership with the social enterprise sector. It has five key objectives, which are to build awareness of social enterprises, help them grow their financial sustainability, contribute to the green transition, deepen alignment from local to international level, and improve our understanding of social enterprises and their impact. A…

I look forward to working with Deputy Ó Murchú in this particular area. Since my appointment, when I assumed responsibility in this area, we have engaged extensively. I have visited and met many stakeholders and social enterprises. To say the least, I am absolutely excited by the work being done. The objectives will be met. The stakeholder engagement group has met and it has a programme of work. It is committed to engaging on this and engaging with us further. I assure Deputy Ó Murchú the officials in the Departmen…