Vol. 1089 No. 5
7. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht to provide an update on the town centre first policy; his views on whether it is achieving its stated aims, taking the Dunshaughlin town team as an example; the evidence he would point to that suggests this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52566/26]
The town centre first, TCF, policy, published in February 2022, is a joint initiative between my Department and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The policy sets out a framework to facilitate and resource the regeneration of Irish towns to ensure they are vibrant, viable and attractive places to live in, work in, invest in and visit. Important progress includes the establishment of a dedicated national TCF office and the appointment of town regeneration officers, TROs, in 26 local authorities, including Meath County Council. TROs lead on implementation of the policy at the local level. They work with the local town teams through a place-based approach to develop a TCF town plan, such as the new plan which the Dunshaughlin town team launched last month.
TCF provides for an integrated policy approach for the development of our towns underpinned by funding streams across Government, including a range of measures from my Department. For example, under the rural regeneration and development fund, RRDF, over €3.6 million has been allocated to five projects located in County Meath since 2020.
This included over €950,000 in category 2 funding for Dunshaughlin courthouse and public realm project, which I recently visited with Deputy Gillian Toole. Recent funding calls for proposals from my Department have shown that the TCF approach is having an impact. Higher quality and more considered applications have been received and have secured funding for project proposals emanating initially from town centre first plans.
We are committed to the TCF policy and I will continue to work with the Ministers of State, Deputies Cummins and Buttimer, in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and we will have a joint Departments of rural and community development and housing and local government event later this year in Waterford around TCF and learning the lessons from TCF to date.
I welcome the work of the Dunshaughlin town team, which has produced the town centre first plan that is very comprehensive. I have participated in some of the consultations, and my colleague, Councillor Fionnan Blake, is on the town team. There was tremendous engagement at the launch recently in the pastoral centre, which would say that the level of commitment from the local community, their interest and ambition for their own place is there in absolute spades. People from all different backgrounds, from those who are new to Dunshaughlin to those who have been there a lifetime, contributed to this. The question then is how to turn this into a reality. The vision is there but the question regarding the funding stream will be the next one asked. When is it going to happen?
I fully agree with the Deputy and I commend the town team in Dunshaughlin on the town centre first plan. My Department is engaging closely with Meath County Council across several different projects, including a RRDF application. As a consequence of the TCF plan, I understand Meath County Council and the town team are closely engaged in working on an RRDF application. As the closing date is 27 July, I cannot tell the Deputy if it has come in or not. However, the officials in my Department have a call scheduled with Meath County Council on RRDF for next Friday, 17 July, at which they will get a steer from Meath County Council as to whether this is coming in.
I know from a meeting I had at the beginning of June with the CEO of Meath County Council and with the then Cathaoirleach, Wayne Harding, that this was seen as a priority within the county. Until such time as we get an application in, I cannot make any further comment. The only thing I will say is the town centre first plan will considerably accentuate the application and strengthen it.
I appreciate that but I have to say that understandably, the community in Dunshaughlin feels as though there were missed opportunities in the past with regard to our RRDF funding and that a huge amount is riding on the next application. We certainly will be making the case to Meath County Council and to the Minister himself that this funding application be successful, because it is an excellent one.
In the wider context, there is a long list of priorities in terms of amenities in the public realm and in other areas such as active travel and transportation. Will the Minister's review of the town centre first policy look at how to integrate the funding streams for towns to ensure all these policy objectives align with one another?
Definitely, Deputy. In the context of the discussions we are having with the Ministers of State, Deputies Cummins and Buttimer, we want to make that alignment true to the funding streams within our Department, as well as their Department, such as with the former URDF project. There is a new name for that now on which I have drawn a blank. However, I will say that on the previous occasion, the Dunshaughlin application was not grounded in the town centre first plan but it is now. Some of the feedback we discussed on the previous one was that there needed to be a plan and we now have a very solid plan.
We have a town regeneration officer within Meath County Council who will be driving on, not just for Dunshaughlin but also for the rest of the county. I highly recommend all the Deputies in the House visit Kells to see what has happened there in the Kells Printing Works. It is an extraordinary project and I am going to get back there myself to see it properly over the summer. That is a similar idea. It is outside the Deputy's own constituency but what is happening in Kells is coming from the town centre first plan-----
It is not outside my constituency. It is bang in the middle; it is my hometown.
My apologies. If there is regeneration happening there, it can happen in Dunshaughlin too.
8. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if he has assessed the potential impact of the draft national housing statement, particularly the proposed changes to occupancy requirements in multi-unit housing developments in Gaeltacht areas, on the implementation of the language planning process under the Gaeltacht Act 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53016/26]
A total of 2,119 pubs have closed since 2005, and another 1,000 pubs are currently at risk. It is estimated that 100 local shops close every year in Ireland, which means two shops are shut on a weekly basis. In the past decade, 257 post offices have closed; that is one post office closing every fortnight for ten years. Some 139 Garda stations were closed 13 years ago, and if you put it over a stretch in time, that is equal to one Garda station closing every month. Indeed, there are 53 Garda stations with no garda at all.
Thank you, Deputy. The Minister will respond, and then the Deputy can come back in.
What is the Minister doing as regards information and stats to be able to develop rural Ireland?
I have a question regarding the draft national housing statement in the Deputy's name. I can give the Deputy chapter and verse, because it is the-----
This is Question No. 8.
-----same question Deputy Conway Walsh has asked, but I have Question with the reference number 53016/26 on this one. That is what is on the Order Paper as well.
He corrected you there.
He did.
Does the Deputy want to give the big intro again?
The Minister can go ahead and I will come back in.
Am I answering the question on the housing statement?
The Minister is answering that one quickly, because he only has a minute and a half left.
In fairness, the question I have and the question the Deputy----
The Deputy asked. No, the question is Question No. 8.
That is on multi-unit housing development.
Yes.
I can give the Deputy the work we are doing.
First, with regard to the draft national planning statement, and I will follow up and email the Deputy with a full answer, that is exactly about restoring population to these areas. Second, the investments I have just discussed with Deputy O'Rourke, and I highlighted an amazing project in the Deputy's own county in Kells, are investing in the RRDF projects to put investment back in rural communities. Through the town centre first plan, working with the Minister, Deputy Browne, and the Ministers of State, Deputies Cummins and Buttimer, we are putting in town regeneration officers to get people back living in towns. Through the vacant house and derelict house site, we are giving people the chance to get a start and to get the kind of refurbishment grants needed to get them back in.
As regards services, it is difficult. We face the challenge of digitalisation. We need people to work and support local communities. I am working with the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, around the whole area of community cafes, which are taking hold around the country. Communities are setting up cafes and we are looking at the notion of community shops as well. We will be publishing the new draft of our rural future in mid-September and it will contain many new initiatives to deal with exactly the kind of challenges the Deputy has dealt with. However, I will send the Deputy a full response subsequently.
A part of that question focuses on the development in the Gaeltacht areas. Obviously, the Gaeltacht is the well of the Irish language. The Gaeltacht is currently at such a level where it is at the edge of continuance. This could be the last generation with the Irish language as a community language within the Gaeltacht. One of the big elements of the Gaeltacht has obviously been the ability to raise families in the Irish language. Housing is a very important element of that and there are significant campaigns currently out there as a result of the lack of proper housing within the Gaeltacht. There are also language schemes but there is a threat potentially of people coming into Gaeltacht areas with only English and therefore changing the community language within that area. Recently, the Government had produced new guidelines on that and there were major concerns those guidelines would have the effect of reducing the Irish spoken in Gaeltacht areas if we sought to house a large number of English speakers in those Gaeltacht areas.
We had a discussion earlier with na Teachtaí Ó Snodaigh and McGuinness around the draft planning statement, which has been introduced by the Minister, Deputy Browne, and on which the Ministers of State, Deputies Buttimer and Cummins, and I have worked closely with him. It is a draft statement, in which we have tried to introduce a national standard regarding Gaeltacht planning and quotas in Gaeltacht areas.
In some local authorities, there are varying degrees of that quota. It is 80% in some counties and it changes from area to area within counties.
As I said, I will engage with any Deputy, since I do not claim ownership over this, about the Gaeltacht side of the draft planning statement to make it as robust as possible. We want to ensure that it protects the language. I am absolutely with the Deputy and every other Deputy about the notion of multi-unit houses in particular. They should be preserved or prioritised for people who have Irish, but we also have to respect that within Gaeltachtaí, there are people who do not have Irish. They have to be given a housing a right in their own community too.
To illustrate the idea, if there are ten people in a bar in the Gaeltacht and one is an English speaker, there is a tendency for the other nine to default to English to make sure that the English speaker is not left out of the conversation. One of the big threats in Gaeltacht areas is often high numbers of English speakers. Once it gets past a certain threshold, it significantly changes the language in that local area. It should be a prime objective of the Government to create a strong, vibrant, Irish-speaking area That cannot be done anywhere else where the language is not a community language because outside the Gaeltacht, the language really only exists in networks, and networks are far poorer in terms of language depth, knowledge, and so on. Údarás na Gaeltachta should be the housing authority for the Gaeltacht, because it is the only organisation that is really knowledgeable about the task and that has the prime objective of it. I know the Minister is shaking his head, but many local authorities simply do not really have a focus on the Irish and Gaeltacht areas.
We published the draft planning statement. We did not pull it out of the sky. I hate using the word "quota". The figures relating to the clause were taken from the census plus 10% in each language planning area. They were based on the number of active Irish speakers. They were not based on nine people not speaking English because of one person. We are open to discussing those thoroughly and constructively. Second, I want people to live in communities that are Irish-speaking where they can raise a family. I want education facilities at primary and secondary level and we are engaging in that. I want all of the elements of a successful community to be put in place.
I also have to be realistic. We have to ensure that we have planning conditions that give Gaeltacht people with Gaeilge the chance to live in their home area and to move to another Gaeltacht. This is the first time there has ever been a draft national planning statement on the Gaeltacht. I am not precious. It is not perfect and I am happy to work with people to improve it over the next number of months.
9. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht for an update on his Department's efforts to reverse rural depopulation in County Mayo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53292/26]
Rural depopulation is one of the greatest challenges facing Mayo, with too many young people leaving because they cannot see a future at home. One of the main reasons they are leaving is they cannot afford a place to live. As a Mayo TD and Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, I ask the Minister to provide an update on the plans and efforts the Minister is making to reverse rural depopulation across the county.
Our Rural Future is the policy document that, since 2021, has been delivering vital investment and supports, strengthening local economies and improving quality of life across rural Ireland. Significant achievements include the delivery of the national broadband plan, the development of a national network of over 400 remote working hubs and enhanced public transport services through the connecting Ireland rural mobility programme, which is shared by the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, in both Departments. Through the rural regeneration and development fund, the town and village renewal scheme and the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme, we are investing in rural communities all across the country and indeed across County Mayo.
Recent figures from the CSO show a 5.8% increase in the number of people living in rural areas between 2016 and 2022. In areas classified as highly rural and remote, including many in Mayo, the increase was 6.4%. However, I am conscious that this growth is inconsistent and that many areas are still losing population. That is why the new draft national planning statement will be important not just for Gaeltacht areas, but for rural areas to bring people back into areas with families and to support schools, post offices, and services.
Under Our Rural Future, we have invested significantly in County Mayo, with €8.8 million under the current LEADER programme, over €39 million in RRDF funding and over €5.8 million under the community centre investment scheme. I was delighted to be in one of our more remote communities recently on Inishturk, where we launched the fibre roll-out of the national broadband plan. Through the town and village renewal scheme, I allocated €1.5 million to six projects.
However, I am aware, as the Deputy is, of those areas. I am committed to working on those areas where the population is leaving. I want to make sure that we get families back in and, through issues like the vacant property grant, we are trying to do that.
I do not deny those things that the Minister has read out. The problem with it is that there is not a consistent approach. While there are many really good projects that the Minister and I have both visited, and this is not us saying it as a party, let us consider the GAA, for instance. It is a minor miracle that Mayo is in the all-Ireland football final with so many of our young people being in Australia. I know the Minister wants to join me in wishing Mayo the very best of luck on Sunday week. Hopefully, after 75 years, we will have some good news, although it will be fairly difficult to get any focus from my Belmullet constituency office with Brenda O'Donoghue, Ryan's mum, concentrating on the football for the next two weeks. By the way, she will be here tomorrow, so the Minister can congratulate her. That is to one side. There are many issues.
The Minister will respond now and the Deputy can come back in.
All I can say is that if Brenda was in charge of the Mayo team, we would have won many all-Irelands. I absolutely mean that. I wish the team every success. It will be a great week and it would be an amazing achievement.
The Deputy is absolutely right. The Minister of State and I have met the GAA demographics committee and we have discussed this with Deputy McGuinness too. I will incorporate much of its work into the new Our Rural Future programme. The GAA has led in what it has done with the demographics committee. I congratulate Benny Hurl, the chairman of the committee, and our former colleague, Shane Cassells, who has joined that committee, for doing a lot of work on this. I will incorporate some of the ideas. Many of the ideas are captured in the national planning statement such as getting people back, investing in sporting facilities and remote working to give people a chance to return to their home areas. People are going to travel but I want them to come back. I want to give them communities to come back to. Communities have a standard that they are used to travelling to, and if we do not provide that standard of facilities and infrastructure, we will not get them back. I absolutely want to get them back. I want us to win multiple all-Irelands.
On the planning guidelines, the Minister needs to engage in proper consultation with groups across the country and counties in rural Ireland. I do not believe there has been enough consultation. The Minister knows what we need in Mayo, such as the non-sterilisation of land along the N59, people being able to build on their own sites, consistency in planning. All of those issues need to be addressed. When will people see the impact of that and be able to build homes or live in their own communities? That is an important message.
On transport, the lack of connectivity between the services is just crazy. An awful lot more can be done without even further investment in public transport, even though we always need public investment. The train coming into the station and the bus having left ten minutes beforehand is an issue. This might seem very minor, but I raise the lack of a trolley service on the train to Mayo. The Minister will have seen today that there was a woman, six months pregnant, in 30° heat on a three and three quarter hour journey. It is totally wrong that we cannot even get a trolley on that train.
Hear, hear.
I agree about transport. We are lucky with Sarah and the team in Local Link. Co-ordination is better, which is something that Deputy McGuinness and the Minister of State discussed earlier around bus stops. We have the same problems with bus stops, which has hopefully just been resolved with the National Transport Authority. On the trolley, it is beyond me, in 2026, why we cannot have trolleys on trains. Irish Rail needs to cop on. I got that email this evening. It was a very distressing situation for that passenger.
Absolutely.
Irish Rail is being ridiculous about trolleys at this stage.
On the N59 and the draft planning guidelines generally, it is the Minister's intention that they will take effect next year. I have asked my party's councillors and I will ask Councillor Murray as well because our councillors are the best planners and experts on planning to look at the guidelines.
That would be a useful exercise for us all to do, for our councillors to examine these guidelines. We will certainly feed that through to our review process. It is important we get them in as quickly as possible.
10. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the criteria used for the designation of SÍOL areas; whether these areas will be expanded in future funding tranches; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53259/26]
Táim féin agus an tAire Stáit, an Teachta Buttimer tar éis sárobair a chur isteach chun SÍOL a chur ar an mbóthar. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta freisin mar iarArd-Mhéara as a thaithí leis seo. I thank the Deputy for sharing his experience with the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, in relation to urban disadvantage. SÍOL was launched on 8 July. It means "seed" in English. It actually stands for scéim infheistíochta ag obair le chéile, which translates to "working together investment scheme". It aims to target small areas of disadvantage in our towns and cities, providing funding for infrastructure to improve the areas and the lives of the communities. The areas chosen are those with the highest population of extreme disadvantage.
The new programme is focused initially on 15 areas that have been designated as SÍOL. The areas were selected using an evidence base which included the Pobal HP deprivation index, information from the CSO report, Urban and Rural Life in Ireland, and research by the ESRI. We also looked at the areas in Ireland already covered by the CLÁR programme to ensure geographical complementarity.
Capital funding of €31.5 million has been secured by the Minister, Deputy Buttimer, and me up to 2030. We announced an allocation of €5 million for 2026 and I plan to increase that amount over time, with annual funding expected to reach €7 million by 2030. The Department will keep SÍOL under review, with a view to potentially adding additional areas on an annual basis. Any area added will be based on the Pobal HP deprivation index and CSO and ESRI evidence.
I will segue a little into Deputy Tóibín's contribution in relation to an Ghaeilge. I was reared in Cois Fharraige, Connemara, in the Gaeltacht. The change in attitude towards the Irish language in Cois Fharraige and the Gaeltacht is nothing less than transformational. When I went to school, an Ghaeilge was not cool. That is the bottom line among the younger generations. That is where the idea of nine Irish speakers converting to speaking English with the single English speaker comes from. That is no longer the case in Connemara, as far as I am concerned. It is very hard to pinpoint what happened. I think a combination of TG4, "Ros na Rún", Telegael, Gteic and that type of stuff has made it cool again to speak the Irish language. There is an entire generation, the next generation down, which is supportive of Irish and favourable to it. If the Minister were to walk into Siopa an Phobail in Indreabhán, the nine speakers will convert the other way round. I have a couple of other questions to ask, but I will leave it at that for now.
Aontaím go mór leis an Teachta. Tá sé iontach an spreagadh chun na Gaeilge a fheiceáil. I spent three summers in Baile na hAbhann in Coláiste Uí Chadhain, so I know the Indreabhán area very well. Tá an Teachta fíor. Freisin tá sé bunaithe ar mhúinteoirí. It is based on teaching, our naíonraí and our Gaelscoileanna. That is why we need more Gaelcholáistí. I have a very strong view that we have to continue this journey through the education system. We are forever in this House kicking social media, but TikTok has a lot of stuff on the Gaeltacht. There are some fantastic podcasts, such as "How To Gael". Social media has actually turned out to be a good friend of an Ghaeilge agus an Ghaeltacht. Tá sé sin tábhachtach. Sin an fáth a bhfuil cúrsaí cosúil le Gaeilge365 chomh tábhachtach. Gaeilge365, which has extended from Dublin City Council to all four Dublin local authorities, is innovative. It is using things differently. It is using Gaeilge in a day-to-day fun way. Every local authority can learn from it.
Tiocfaidh mé ar ais go SÍOL ar feadh nóiméid. I welcome SÍOL. As the Minister has said, síol is the Irish word for seed. It is very positive. It can make a huge difference, if funded properly, to those communities the Minister mentioned in terms of disadvantage. I understand it provides capital and project funding? Can the Minister confirm that? Like any TD, I am interested in areas in my own constituency and there is serious deprivation in parts of Coolock and Darndale. The Minister referred to funding of €5 million for this year. Will it be up to the local authorities to advance initiatives in tandem with the use of Pobal's data? How will that work? Should we be working with our local authorities to advance particular projects or ideas in areas? How can we help to bring those forward?
The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I were conscious that the scheme was only capital. We wanted to keep it very simple initially and get the projects rolled out. In terms of the current programme, in the 15 areas, there is a closing date of mid-August. It comes from the local authorities. We will make sure we get money quickly to local authorities. A regular complaint from local authorities in relation to our schemes is that it costs them money to implement them. A total of 5% of the budget will go toward each managing local authority to cater for the management of the project locally.
The projects will be small. They could be local health and sports projects and initiatives. I have compared it in some places to CLÁR for these 15 urban areas. They are small, important local capital projects that otherwise would not happen. The projects will be 100% funded, with no local contribution required. It is our intention that, with increased resources, we will keep the scheme open for potential expansion. I know the area the Deputy mentioned. We have good engagement with the Northside Partnership, which does fantastic work and the Minister of State and I respect that work. We look forward to working with the Deputy in relation to that.
13. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the actions his Department is taking to advance the community development of urban village centres such as Dundrum village; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53309/26]
As we see housing developments near many of our village centres, it is imperative that we also undertake projects that facilitate community development for those villages. A civic, cultural and community centre is needed for Dundrum village in my constituency of Rathdown. What is the Department doing to address issues such as this? Will the Department work with local groups such as Imagine Dundrum to see this project delivered?
I thank the Deputy for the question. The Minister, Deputy Calleary, and I have developed a range of funding schemes and interventions which advance the development of communities across the country. While many of the Department's schemes are focused on rural areas, others traverse both rural and urban communities. These include the social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, the community services programme, the community centre investment fund, the community recognition fund and the local enhancement programme.
The Department's SICAP programme is the country's primary social inclusion programme. As the Deputy knows, SICAP aims to reduce poverty and promote social inclusion and equality in Ireland through supporting communities and individuals, using community development as its main method of approach. The Southside Partnership implements SICAP in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, which includes Dundrum in its catchment area. The Department has also approved significant capital investment in Dundrum to support the development of community spaces. For example, €99,000 has been allocated to the upgrade of the Patrick Doyle Road playground in Dundrum under the community recognition fund. Also under the community recognition fund, €146,000 has been approved for an upgrade to Balally scout den. Under the community centre investment fund, over €14,000 was allocated for the upgrade of kitchen and toilet facilities at Rosemount Family Resource Centre.
As announced recently, the local enhancement programme for 2026 provided €7 million in capital supports to many small community groups and organisations, particularly those who serve disadvantaged communities in rural and urban areas. The list of successful projects for the 2026 programme was well propagated and includes a number of organisations in the Dundrum area, supporting activities such as the provision of youth services. I will comment further following the Deputy's supplementary question.
Imagine Dundrum is a brilliant community organisation. It has repeatedly demonstrated the case for this space and the need for such a space is highlighted in the county development plan and local area plan. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is supportive of a potential project, but what we need in Dundrum are the resources and structure centrally to make it happen. I appreciate the listing of the funding schemes, but these are not yet getting it over the line, and that is what we need to happen.
Many urban villages are facing the same problem of increased populations but decreased community space and unclear paths to establishing new civic space. We need to see greater security of funding and greater investment in our urban villages, so that every community can have the space it needs to thrive. In Dundrum, there is a local family resource centre and local youth services that help some of my most disadvantaged constituents, all of whom need a home.
Will the Department consider its funding mechanisms, particularly in advance of the budget, so that we can get projects like this over the line?
I appreciate that Dundrum, in some cases, is not eligible for funding under some of the criteria for schemes. The Minister and I have had conversations with many Deputies in the House, especially those from west Dublin, parts of Cork South-Central and parts of the Deputy’s own constituency. We are very much committed to community development and regeneration. The Deputy will have heard the Minister, Deputy Calleary, speaking a moment ago on the regeneration of urban village centres in reply to another question. It is pivotal to us. Our Department and the Government place a strong emphasis on social inclusion and addressing social disadvantage. We are open to discussion on the mechanisms of support for many different projects. For example, Dundrum is eligible for funding under the urban regeneration and development fund administered by the Department of housing. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has been approved for funding of €4.3 million for the new Dundrum community hub. I understand a preliminary business case has been made.
It seems everyone who needs to be involved is on board to make this project a reality but available funding is not adequate to make this happen for Dundrum village. The new towns and cities regeneration investment fund as currently constituted will not be able to make this civic centre happen. I am asking that the Minister of State work with me and other representatives on the ground to make this happen and address the gaps in our funding streams that have left this vision unrealised. I understand that communities throughout the country are in need of support and funding to develop and I understand the Minister of State’s Department has to balance these needs nationwide, but inaction on this means wasting a golden opportunity to transform an urban village in a way that will affect thousands of residents, which has the backing of the community and the council and which is desperately needed to guarantee the sustainable development of the community.
We are 20 years since Dundrum Village as a shopping centre was established. Although it has been pivotal in providing employment to young people and so on, it has had a detrimental impact on the actual community spirit and the civic centre of the town and village. This has to be addressed and it is a project which we must advance.
In a previous reply, the Minister, Deputy Calleary, mentioned the new building and community investment funding. It is important to make the point that it is a cross-governmental approach working with the local authority. In terms of civic and community culture and civic hubs, the Minister and I want all local communities to develop. We are ambitious that people can live and flourish in some cases where they are from and are able to regenerate that area. We have allocated significant funding to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council for a variety of projects, including library development, playgrounds and different vibrant areas of the community. I encourage everyone, including the Deputy, to encourage everyone to collaborate with the local authorities to ensure we can bring many projects over the line but also to ensure that at the core of what we do is dealing with the challenge of social inclusion.
We have a variety of schemes, including the local enhancement programme in recent weeks, which is small projects with small money but which are important transformational projects. I will sit down with the Deputy in the coming weeks to have that conversation. We are ambitious. We recognise the contributions of people in local areas and we want to see them flourish. I will be happy to sit down with the Deputy.
16. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the role his Department will play in amending and finalising the recently published draft national planning statement for rural and Gaeltacht housing. [53184/26]
I put this question in English but tá roinnt de a bhaineann le cúrsaí Gaeltachta. Is féidir an dá theanga a úsáid, má tá an tAire sásta leis sin. It is about the role the Minister’s Department will play in amending and finalising the recently published draft national planning statement for rural and Gaeltacht housing. I know this has been discussed several times here this evening and the Minister and I have discussed it as well. This is a document that relates to the core mission of the Minister’s Department so I want to know precisely what role his Department will play in those aspects.
I thank the Deputy for his ongoing work on this. It is not back-of-the-envelope stuff. His inputs and those of Deputy Ó Snodaigh are always considered.
As he knows, the primary responsibility lies with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The draft statement is, in my view, one that strengthens the planning system’s support for the Irish language and Gaeltacht areas, making it clearer and more consistent by setting out the language criteria which may be submitted with applications for new single rural dwellings and requiring a proportion of multi-unit developments to be lived in by Irish speakers. Importantly, the policy also recognises that Gaeltacht communities share a specific culture, language and identity. It introduces the idea of inter-Gaeltacht recognition, meaning Irish speakers who live and work in one Gaeltacht can use that experience and time to show they may meet local need requirements in another Gaeltacht.
One of the key benefits will be the introduction of a new policy approach applied consistently across the country, providing more certainty for people wishing to build a new house in a rural area and the avoidance of prescriptive local policies that see different standards applied between neighbouring counties and, indeed, sometimes within a county. Currently, there is no consistent method for local planning authorities when developers are reserving a percentage of the housing development for Irish speakers. This method of using the percentage of speakers outside the education system plus 10%, as proposed, will be based on the current linguistic composition of the area rather than setting a uniform national figure across all Gaeltacht areas.
This is about giving certainty both to people who wish to remain living in or return to their rural communities as well as planners while supporting a vibrant sustainable rural Ireland. There will be discussions with interested parties in the coming weeks. In that context, a meeting is scheduled between my officials and Conradh na Gaelige later in the month. I look forward to engaging with the Deputy and Deputy Ó Snodaigh in this space and we will engage very directly with the Minister, Deputy Browne, and the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, on this over the coming months.
When the document was published last week, we were all taken aback. Commentators, Opposition politicians and campaign groups and people working in the space were disappointed both on the rural housing piece and that of Gaeltacht housing. Not only was it underwhelming and the cúrsaí Gaeltachta deeply disappointing but it looked like something that had been utterly rushed and that had been put together very quickly without a lot of thought. It has taken very little from the consultation, submissions and recommendations of various Oireachtas committees and discussions here in this House. I feel it was a rushed job by the Department of housing - the Minister may disagree; he may not be at liberty to agree with me publicly – which did not take into account the good work and fair policies the Minister’s Department has been promulgating over the past while.
On rural housing, as part of our analysis we spoke to analysts, engineers, architects, planners, merchants, builders and auctioneers and they do not see this would dramatically increase the delivery of housing and they do not think this would lead to a liberalisation of policy. They just do not see that happening. That leaves many communities in the lurch and facing the demographic crises that have been mentioned in this House already this evening.
I reject the Deputy's analysis of the draft plan on the Gaeltacht. We worked very closely with the Department of housing on it to try to get a balance. The important thing is to get a balance in Gaeltacht areas between those with Gaeilge, those who have Irish and use it as a daily language, and new people moving into it, but also those from a Gaeltacht area who do not have Irish, because they equally have a right to stay in their place. Second, I was anxious that we got a balance in terms of not allowing further holiday home development. I want permanent residences for families to grow, live and work through Irish and then drive the demand for Irish schools, Irish education, Irish cultural facilities and so on. I am happy to work with Deputy McGuinness and Deputy Ó Snodaigh in particular and colleagues across the Gaeltacht side of it to address some of the Deputy’s feedback, although we will not incorporate it all. There is an environmental streaming process under way. I will share the information involved with that with the Deputy after this session.
I dtaobh chúrsaí Gaeltachta, ní aontaím leis an Aire in aon chor go bhfuil dearcadh nó aighneachtaí na ndreamanna éagsúla atá ag obair sa spás seo iniata leis an gcáipéis seo. Is léir go ndearna an Roinn agus an bheirt Airí sa Roinn tithíochta neamhaird air sin. Iarrfaidh mé ar an Aire féachaint air seo, gur úsáideadh staitisticí ó dhaonáireamh 2016 sa cháipéis chun an argóint seo a chruthú mar gheall ar líon na gcainteoirí Gaelainne in ionad na staitisticí is déanaí. Molaim don Aire féachaint siar air.
Dá mba rud é go raibh siad ag éisteacht leis an Aire nó lena Roinn, ní dóigh liom go dtarlódh a leithéid de rud. Tá an-chuid fadhbanna. Bhí cruinniú agam in Indreabhán i gConamara oíche aréir. Tá daoine an-fheargach mar gheall air seo. Ní fhéadfainn a rá go bhfuil sé mar gheall ar cúpla sonra a athrú anseo agus ansiúd. Tá daoine feargach mar gheall air seo. An rud a bhí ag eascairt as seo ná nach bhfuil sé chun cabhrú le daoine as na ceantair sin atá ag iarraidh maireachtáil sa Ghaeltacht agus clann a thógáil trí mheán na Gaelainne tithe a thógaint. Ní fheictear go bhfuil sé sin ann. Molaim don Aire comhairliúchán poiblí a dhéanamh - ceann gairid ach an comhairliúchán sin a dhéanamh agus brú a chur ar an Aire tithíochta a leithéid a dhéanamh mar níl sé maith go leor a chluasa a dhúnadh agus gan éisteacht a thabhairt don phobal.
Scrúdaíomar na figiúirí. Tá na coinníollacha nua bunaithe ar census 2022, cé go bhfuil deacrachtaí ansin. Mar a dúradh an oíche a d'fhoilsíomar an dréachtráiteas, táim oscailte go feedback. Nuair atá fearg ann, oibrím leis an bhfearg nuair a thagann rudaí as an bhfearg sin. Táim sásta obair leis an Teachta. Mar a dúirt mé, tá oifigigh as mo Roinn, a chuir an-obair isteach leis na hoifigigh sa Roinn tithíochta, chun cruinniú a bheith acu le Conradh na Gaeilge roimh dheireadh na míosa seo. Bhí siad chun é a dhéanamh an tseachtain seo caite, ach ní raibh an conradh in ann é a dhéanamh. Táim sásta, mar a dúirt mé, suí síos le haon Teachta a bhfuil suim acu ní hamháin ráiteas a fhoilsiú ach obair air seo. Táim sásta é sin a dhéanamh agus obair leis an Aire, an Teachta Browne. Beimid in ann obair leis an gcoiste agus leis an Teachta Moynihan, agus, tar éis na hoibre sin, leis an Aire, an Teachta Browne. Tá suim agam obair orthu. Sin an tsuim is mó atá agam.
Glacaim leis sin.
We move on to Question No. 19, also in the name of Deputy McGuinness.
Tá na Teachtaí an-ghnóthach.
Tá muid an-ghnóthach, an triúr againn. Leanfaimid ar aghaidh pé scéal é.
19. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if he plans to substantially increase funding for the CLÁR programme in light of the recent expansion of the scheme’s eligibility. [53185/26]
This relates to the CLÁR programme in light of the recent expansion of the scheme's eligibility. I really welcome the expansion of the CLÁR scheme. It is something that I think all of us representing rural areas and, indeed, many councillors from all parties and none have been seeking for a long time. It is something about which, as the Minister probably knows, I have put in several written questions over recent weeks. I am talking here about not just an increase in funding to keep pace with inflation but a substantial increase to take into account of the increased number of areas covered.
I thank the Deputy for his question about CLÁR. As he knows, CLÁR provides funding under a number of different measures for small-scale infrastructural projects in designated rural areas. The programme is investing in community facilities and amenities, including community centres, MUGAs, playgrounds, walking tracks and sensory gardens. The scheme also funds vehicles for community groups providing vital services such as community first responders, meals on wheels groups, and transport for people with reduced mobility. There is also a measure providing targeted supports to our island communities. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I launched the 2026 CLÁR programme in March and we expect to announce all successful projects before the end of the year. The 2025 programme for Government made a commitment to carry out a comprehensive review of all eligible CLÁR areas. Following this review, an additional 110 electoral divisions, EDs, have been designated as eligible under CLÁR. This means that there are now over 1,700 CLÁR EDs across the country. For the first time, the total population living in CLÁR-designated areas is over 1 million. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I are acutely aware of the importance of this programme to some of our most rural areas. I was delighted to be in a position to bring more areas into the programme. To prepare the way for this expansion, I secured a €1 million increase in the budget for CLÁR in 2026 to bring the level available to €12 million. Funding for CLÁR has increased from €5 million in 2020 to its current allocation of €12 million. We are reviewing the budget for CLÁR as part of the budget 2027 process. We are engaging with ministerial colleagues across the Department of public expenditure on this. I absolutely share the Deputy's interest in CLÁR. We have prioritised it in terms of a quadrupling of the funding since 2020, and I want to continue to increase that level of funding.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as sin. On the ground, in rural areas, particularly those deprived rural areas, we see the advantage of CLÁR. It is relatively small money. There are small amounts that are provided, but that money goes really far in these areas and it is very much appreciated. It is possibly not transformative but it really helps to keep those communities' heads above the water. We have spoken here about the challenges communities are facing in terms of housing and demographics. The last time the three of us were in this Chamber discussing these matters, we were talking about isolation and loneliness. There are so many challenges. We could talk about rural policing. We could talk about access to public services. There are so many issues facing rural areas, particularly those more isolated and less well-off rural areas, and the CLÁR funding is really valuable. I encourage the Minister to do what he can to make that argument in his budgetary discussions this year.
Absolutely. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I are working hard to ensure that CLÁR gets increased funding. As Deputy McGuinness knows, under 2025, Waterford received €572,000 for nine projects under measures 1 and 2. On the Deputy's comments about loneliness, that is why we have the mobility scheme and the transport scheme. It gives local organisations in rural areas that would not have the resources to invest in buses the chance to do that. I was with a group the other day involved with a bus that brings to hospital appointments, to mass and to social events people who otherwise, through illness etc., would be isolated in their homes. Ardmore, Glenwilliam, Lismore rural and Tallow have all been added to the CLÁR programme within the Deputy's county, so I look forward to seeing the applications from Waterford later this year for projects in those areas. Over the course of the summer recess, we hope to be in a position to announce this year's mobility grants, but it is a really important programme. CLÁR used to be a transformative programme. It is transformative in a different way now, but in terms of its capacity for our rural economy I have a vision of getting back to that as well in terms of power etc.
I wish the Minister luck in those negotiations and discussions ahead of budget 2027. Those of us who represent CLÁR areas and rural areas will be watching. The addition of those townlands - Glenwilliam, Tallow, Lismore and other areas the Minister mentioned - is really welcome and will facilitate groups on the ground there accessing funding. Not every area, unfortunately, can be included in CLÁR funding, but that is something we might revisit and have a discussion about at some stage. I know a threshold or a line has to be drawn somewhere, but I note that in the Comeragh area of County Waterford - the Portlaw-Kilmacthomas local electoral area - there were no new areas designated for CLÁR funding. That could be a blessing in disguise in some ways because the metric is not there to qualify but, on the other hand, it means that those community groups that are facing some of the same challenges do not qualify. It is something that maybe we can come back to and have a look at some time in the future and maybe keep that expansion going, maybe not year on year but over time, in order that more and more areas would begin to qualify.
Absolutely. I am very much open to that. Along with the Ministers of State, Deputies Butler and Cummins, I had the pleasure of visiting the area mentioned by the Deputy back in June. I know that the Comeragh area has a super weekend in the Comeraghs Wild Festival. We were able, through ORIS, to make investments in the forests there. The project in Lismore is one of the best LEADER projects I have seen. I refer to what has happened at the back of the bank there, in terms of the glamping pods, and the plan for the bank. There are other alternatives apart from CLÁR. The community groups in the area the Deputy has mentioned are some of the best in the country. I put on record my appreciation to all the community groups across Waterford - we had a super day of engagements - and to Waterford County and City Council, which is kind of the scaffolding around this, and to Waterford LEADER. There are a lot of really good groups there, including a lot of fantastic community groups. The Deputy is lucky to be in a county where volunteers are willing to stand up and take the leadership and the initiative that we saw right across the county that day. A lot of counties could look to Waterford and learn from that work but also the fact that it is all community-led and community-driven.
24. D'fhiafraigh Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh den Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht cén dáta faoina bhfuil sé i gceist aige toghcháin a eagrú do bhord Údarás na Gaeltachta [53302/26]
Beidh an Aire agus an Aire Stáit bréan dom ag an tráth seo.
Baineann an cheist seo le toghchán do bhord Údarás na Gaeltachta. Mar is eol don Aire, bhí an-chuid plé againn sa Seomra Dála seo mar gheall ar Bhille Údarás na Gaeltachta agus na toghcháin. Cé nach rabhamar ag aontú lena chéile ró-mhinic, glacaim anois go bhfuil an Bille rite agus go mbeidh toghcháin ag Údarás na Gaeltachta. Cad é an plean? Cathain a mbeidh siad? An féidir aon léargas a thabhairt ar cén cur chuige a bheadh i gceist?
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta. Shínigh an tUachtarán Connolly an tAcht um Údarás na Gaeltachta (Leasú), 2026, ina dhlí ar an 1 Iúil 2026. Is é príomhchuspóir an Achta an próiseas ainmniúcháin agus roghnúcháin reatha a rialaíonn ceapachán bhord Údarás na Gaeltachta faoi Acht na Gaeltachta, 2012 a athrú agus próiseas toghcháin agus roghnúcháin nua a chur ina áit. Leis an leasú seo, comhlíonadh gealltanas a tugadh i gclár an Rialtais toghcháin do bhord Údarás na Gaeltachta a athbhunú.
Nuair a chuirtear na hailt ábhartha den reachtaíocht leasaithe i bhfeidhm, beidh deichniúr comhalta tofa agus seisear comhalta arna n-ainmniú ag an Aire ar bhord an údaráis. Beidh ionadaíocht ag gach ceantar Gaeltachta ar an mbord, agus ní bheidh uainíocht comhaltaí do cheantair bheaga Ghaeltachta i bhfeidhm a thuilleadh. Chun nasc níos láidre a chinntiú idir an pobal agus obair an bhoird, foráiltear leis an Acht freisin go mbunóidh an t-údarás trí choiste réigiúnacha reachtúla atá cosúil leo siúd a bhí i bhfeidhm roimh 2012, ach a mbeidh sainchúram beagán difriúil orthu. Beidh comhaltaí ainmnithe ag údaráis áitiúla ar na coistí réigiúnacha seo agus ní mór do gach ball den údarás agus dá choistí réigiúnacha a bheith in ann leibhéal inniúlachta sa Ghaeilge a léiriú atá riachtanach chun a gcuid feidhmeanna a chomhlíonadh.
Chun críche na dtoghchán do bhord Údarás na Gaeltachta, bhí gá roinnt leasuithe teicniúla a dhéanamh ar Acht Toghcháin, 1992; an Acht Toghcháin, 1997; an Acht um Thruailliú ó Bhruscar, 1997; agus an Acht um Chosaint Sonraí, 2018. Foráiltear leis na leasuithe seo go gcuirfí tagairtí do thoghcháin Údarás na Gaeltachta san áireamh sna hachtanna seo. Coimeádfar ceist na dtoghchán faoi bhreith leanúnach agus déanfar cinneadh maidir leis an bhfráma ama dóibh in am trátha.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. Tuigim go bhfuil leasuithe le déanamh ar na hAchtanna sin a luaigh sé, is iad sin an Acht Toghcháin, 1992; an Acht Toghcháin, 1997; agus na hAchtanna eile maidir le bruscair, truailliú agus cosaint sonraí. An bhfuil amlíne i gceist i gcomhair na leasuithe nó an bhfuil sé sin le baint amach i mbliana? An bhfuil buile faoi thuairim ann i dtaobh amlíne do na toghcháin? An bhfuil muid ag caint ar iad a bheith ar siúl roimh dheireadh na bliana seo nó i samhradh na bliana seo chugainn? An mbeidh sé faoin Roinn tithíochta na toghcháin sin a rith nó an mbeidh siad á rith i Roinn an Aire féin?
Níl mórán ama tugtha do na céad céimeanna eile. Bhí muid dírithe ar an mBille a chur tríd an Oireachtas. Táimid chun é sin a scrúdú anois. Le haghaidh gach toghchán, tá cúram na dtoghchán faoi chúraim na Roinne Tithíochta, Rialtais Áitiúil agus Oidhreachta. Beidh na leasuithe le plé le hoifigigh na Roine sin leis na rudaí eile agus beidh na sonraí eile le haghaidh na dtoghchán á bplé ag leibhéal an Rialtais. Beidh mé ag cur an próiseas do na coistí réigiúnacha ar siúl chomh luath agus is féidir mar tá siad tábhachtach le haghaidh an údaráis taobh amuigh de na toghcháin. Tá sé tábhachtach go mbeidh siad ag obair agus go mbeidh na daoine bunaithe ar na coistí sin. Beidh mé sásta teacht ar ais chuig an Teachta tar éis bhriseadh an tsamhraidh chun sonraí eile a phlé faoin gcéad próiseas eile agus na céimeanna eile sa Bhille seo. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Uachtarán as an reachtaíocht a shíniú agus gabhaim buíochas léi freisin as an obair a chur sí isteach sa Bhille nuair a bhí sí sa Teach seo.
Nach suimiúil é sin mar fhíric go raibh baint ag an Uachtarán sa Bhille seo. Níor glacadh leis na leasuithe faraor ach chuir sí leasuithe isteach ar thaobh amháin agus shínigh sí an Bille ag an deireadh. Impím ar an Aire gan tuilleadh moille a chur leis an bpróiseas seo, agus pé rud gur féidir a dhéanamh chun tacú leis na toghcháin seo a dhéanamh. Tá muintir na Gaeltachta agus na pobail Ghaeltachta ag fanacht le fada an lá i gcomhair na toghcháin seo teacht thar n-ais. Mar a dúramar ar an dtaobh seo den Teach le linn na ndíospóireachtaí ar Bhille Údarás na Gaeltachta, tá géarghá le tuilleadh daonlathais istigh san údarás. Cé nach bhfuil an Bille, inár dtuairim, foirfe i dtaobh an méid daonlathais - bhíomar ag súil le níos mó - táimid ag iarraidh an Acht mar atá sé a bhaint amach chomh tapa agus is féidir ionas gur féidir leis na pobail seilbh a ghlacadh arís ar threoir Údarás na Gaeltachta.
