Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to be on this committee, and I am delighted to see Mayo and Galway joining forces within the Department. I look forward to working with both the Minister, Deputy Ring and Minister of State, Deputy Kyne, to provide for rural and community development over the next number of years.

I have three questions at this stage. In the programme for Government it was agreed that the Western Development Commission will have an enhanced role under this Government. What type of enhanced role will it have? What additional functions is it going to be given to make it more active and more effective within rural Ireland?

I also note from recent announcements that the western regional audio-visual producers fund has been set up. I would like to know how that is going to be funded and how much funding it will receive.

Listening to the Minister, Deputy Ring, I welcome all of the funding that has been allocated to the Ceantair Laga Árd-Riachtanais programme, CLÁR, to town and village renewal, to the LIS and to recreational schemes, which are a valuable source of development for rural Ireland. Deputy Ó Cuiv raised the issue of local authorities. I wonder if the Minister would consider bringing other organisations on board to deliver some of these programmes. Given the structures that they have, the local authorities may not have the resources to deliver these projects in a timely fashion at this stage. There has been a huge amount of cutbacks to the local authorities. They may not have the resources of the management teams to deliver. Would the Minister consider other organisations, such as Údarás na Gaeltachta, the Western Development Commission or the companies funded by the LEADER rural development programme as vehicles by which this funding could be rapidly delivered into the communities?

My last point relates to the national planning framework, but it also concerns the Atlantic economic corridor, AEC, which was in the programme for Government, and where that sits within the Department. I suggest that we should bring the people who are involved in the AEC before this committee at some stage to give us a presentation on it. It is the only vehicle by which we will once and for all create balanced development in this country and create that counterbalance required to alleviate the pressure on the east coast ìn order that people can work and live in their own parishes into the future, for their children and grandchildren.