Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If I can, with the agreement of the other members. I thank Mr. McCarthy and his officials for coming before the committee.

Obviously a lot of what we are talking about in this committee confirms that our approach to climate action needs to be a whole-of-government approach across Departments. This Department has a very specific remit with regard to community development and assisting those great community groups. How much interaction is there between the Department of Rural and Community Development and the other Departments that provide other supports? Has the Department ensured there is no duplication and that any gaps have been filled?

I gathered from what Mr. McCarthy said in his presentation that there are areas where co-funding can be leveraged from two different Departments. In my local area in Kildare we have the Drehid grant for the Drehid landfill in the greater Carbury area. Sports clubs in those areas can apply for a community grant under that local scheme. They can co-fund their projects with the sports capital programme. In this way, two small grants can go together and get something very sizeable done. As more community energy groups are developed, could the Department of Rural and Community Development co-fund them with other Departments? Is Mr. McCarthy's mind open to that? Is there real awareness in the Department of the other supports in other Departments with crossover potential?

The local authorities have a key role to play here. They have a lot of knowledge about local groups. The town and village renewal scheme is a really positive scheme. Now that communities have become more aware of it I am seeing an even higher standard of applications. Community groups are now planning a year in advance, rather than trying to cobble an application together just before a deadline. They are giving applications more thought. As such, there are applications of much higher quality with stronger and more robust long-term plans and we get better bang for our buck when we spend taxpayers' money on supporting those groups.

As energy groups develop and Tidy Towns groups move into the sustainable energy field, there will be space for us to support those community groups and the Department of Rural and Community Development will be absolutely key to that. This is not just something for the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. In Kilcullen, in south Kildare, a sustainable energy community has been established. It is a very progressive community-driven group. We are very lucky to have some experts with knowledge from their professions and jobs volunteering their time. Does the Department have a plan that could assist such existing community groups to look at energy-efficient measures? How can we help to support them? That question concerns groups with a fair bit of knowledge, such as the Newbridge Tidy Towns Association. Newbridge is obviously the biggest town in my constituency, with more than 20,000 people. The Liffey Linear Park has won the green flag award for a sustainability model for a second year. That group is not starting from scratch. Its members have a fair knowledge of this.

Is support available for groups who are not as advanced to get their heads around the types of project that are possible? What role does the Department play in opening the minds of people who are at the very early stages of this?

Does Mr. McCarthy find there is a geographical spread? Are there gaps in the country where less of this activity is happening? Once one energy community has developed within a county, others will pop up nearby because people see it is a good idea. Ultimately, funding will drive a great deal of this. If local active voluntary community groups can see that funding can be accessed through implementing certain measures it will encourage them into that area. Nowhere is that more obvious than where greenways and blueways are concerned. Those projects have a very positive spin-off in attracting tourism, economic activity and people. We have to link environmental sustainability and a positive environmental story into each of these measures.

When Mr. McCarthy came in here he probably thought that his Department was not the lead Department on this. However its role is absolutely key. Everything we have covered in the committee in recent weeks, or will cover in the coming weeks, concerns getting people throughout the country to buy into the idea that we need to do more. We have so many good active community groups that just need a bit of support. Some are at an advanced stage and just need grants and schemes to assist them in their ideas. Others need help in formulating those ideas. On those points, particularly in regard to the rural fund, how can we best harness that along with other Departments? I would be interested to hear Mr. McCarthy's views on that.