Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I had a tremendous day in County Leitrim where there is fantastic community spirit. Rossinver, a small community in a very rural area, has put in place facilities that are a credit to the people living there. One can feel the community spirit in the area. As the Deputy knows, the community works together. Rossinver faced many challenges but kept going, put a project together and secured funding from various streams. I compliment everyone involved.

The Deputy raised the local improvement scheme. He is right that we did not have a scheme for seven years. While there is a major backlog, the allocations the Department provided in the past two years have been a big help, especially in smaller counties. The Deputy asked about further allocations. I am looking at this issue. It is a scheme I want to support and which has worked well. I would like to see some matching funding from another Department. Members may wish to ask other Departments, perhaps the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, whether it will provide matching funding.

The local authorities charge us extremely high fees for administering the scheme. Perhaps they should consider its social value and instead of taking 13%, 14% or 15% off the top, they should invest the money I give them in roads. Maybe that money should all be used to tackle the problem we have. The Deputy has to give me credit for recommencing the scheme after seven years when it no one funded it. I am glad I did that and I will continue to do so. The Deputy is right that I allocated €10.8 million this year and I am considering what I can do in respect of having further funding. I will make that decision over the coming weeks.

The Deputy spoke about the walks scheme. He has certainly seen what the scheme has done for his area. On the outdoor recreation scheme, the Deputy is correct that I have a further round of funding to allocate for the in-between schemes and bigger schemes. County Leitrim has been given a great lift. Off the top of my head, I remember we provided funding for a walk in Drumshanbo. We also provided €1 million for a scheme from Drumshanbo to Leitrim village and from Leitrim village to Carrick-on-Shannon. The tourism sector tells me that this has given the area a tremendous lift. In Drumshanbo alone, eight new companies were created from that particular investment. The Department allocated €700,000 and subsequently €1 million. Funding for walks along the Beara-Breifne way, which will extend into counties Roscommon and Leitrim, will also be of help. I will discuss with the Deputy the separate question he raised regarding the town and village scheme. The outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme is one of the better schemes we have but it takes a little time to put these schemes together.

On supporting farmers in respect of the walks scheme, some of these schemes would not proceed without the support of farmers and communities. I was in County Leitrim last week, as Deputy Kenny said, where I met a group that is looking for further funding to extend the walks schemes. The group has the farmers on board. It is committed and sees what such a small investment does for the community and the value for money it provides. The area will not attract multinational companies. The best way it can build a community is through enterprises in Drumshanbo such as the food hub and the local drinks company, which are creating lots of jobs. People sometimes overlook the effect some of the legislation they want to bring in will have on jobs in rural Ireland. I know alcohol has knock-on effects but, at the same time, if it is not being made in Drumshanbo, it would be made in Vienna or some other place. The drinks company in Drumshanbo creates many valuable jobs. The abuse of alcohol is another day's work. I support anybody seeking to address that because of the effects alcohol has on families and communities and the costs incurred by hospitals as a result.

The outdoor recreation scheme is a great scheme and it is working well. The Deputy raised the town and village scheme and the pilot scheme. He is correct that the schemes run by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government were the repair and lease and buy and renew schemes. The Department thought these schemes would resolve the problem but the Deputy is right that they did not work. The proof of any scheme is the level of drawdown and there was very little drawdown. The schemes just did not work. For this reason, I reverted to the community in respect of the pilot scheme I have introduced. I have asked the community to investigate.

The Deputy put forward a number of ideas. Boyle is one of the towns that has been selected. We need communities to tell us what they think will resolve their problems. It could be a combination of a number of schemes. People are always talking about grant aid, which is necessary. However, what I need to know first is what are the priorities of communities and what the State can do to support them. My Department and every other Department needs to listen to what communities say. They may say they need the local authorities to use compulsory purchase orders to take over some of these properties. Once that has been done, the communities or local councils should get funding from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government or from other scheme that could be set up to support them.

The town and village scheme has worked very well. It has been a great scheme in cases where it has been used properly. I have seen examples in counties Wicklow, Roscommon, Mayo, Galway and everywhere else. Under that scheme, small amounts of money are used for simple work that lifts the community and the public realm. It makes places look nice so that people want to live in and be proud of them. I will seek further funding from the Department of Finance for further funding for the town and village scheme in the future. The Deputy is correct that the more money put into the scheme, the better. The scheme has been open on a wide basis. It can be used for digital hubs, food hubs, public realms or other areas for which communities want to use the funding. It is a scheme of which I am very fond. I like it because I see the value of it instantly. The walks scheme is the other such scheme.

The Deputy talked about the pilot scheme. I am not putting any pressure on the six towns that have been selected but local people in the communities in question may come back with suggestions the Department has not seen. Local communities know what it happening and how to resolve their problems. If one looks at towns, villages and communities that have done well, for example, Rossinver, which I visited last weekend, one will see that it is all about communities working together and focusing on what they believe they need. What they want is support from the local authorities, this Department and other Departments.

We have to start looking differently at rural Ireland and our towns and villages. As I have said on many occasions, there is no point pretending. In some areas, many small shops were taken over by the multinationals, which are now being overtaken by online shopping. Life is changing and we have to equip for that and seek ways and means of doing things differently in rural Ireland. I would love to see a bit of life restored to some of these towns and villages.

There is a demand and need for housing and rented accommodation.

As for why these other two schemes did not work, I need to see what the local community will say to me. It might come back with ideas for six different solutions. If it does, I will look at piloting a few of the suggestions. If we need to extend the pilot to other towns, I will look at that at a later stage as well.

Deputy Kenny also raised post offices and the LEADER programme. The Deputy is correct that the LEADER is ramping up at last. It is beginning to happen. The projects are now beginning to be approved and it will take some time for the funding to be drawn down.

On the post offices, the Deputy will have an opportunity to raise issues when representatives of An Post appear in a week or two. As many post offices as possible should be kept open.