Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I cannot agree more about the Tidy Towns. We are so lucky to have it. I just have to keep putting it on the record. All the Deputies have praised the movement this evening. Ireland is a better place and our towns, villages and cities are better places because of the Tidy Towns committees. I know it is probably not politically correct but I want to take this opportunity to thank SuperValu for its sponsorship over the years. It has been a great community supporter. I am grateful to Martin Kelleher, the managing director of SuperValu, for that support. I am also grateful to all the other sponsors who have been very supportive of the Tidy Towns initiative.

I have no problem sending a copy of that letter to the committee. It is just a very simple letter outlining the proposals for the year ahead and giving the local authorities a direction on the way we are going, what schemes are coming up and when, to give them an opportunity to prepare and plan for them.

On the local infrastructure scheme, LIS, I know what the Deputy is saying. I had meant to respond to Deputy Fitzmaurice. Even when I have given the early funding in February, sometimes by September they did not have it spent. I know they want to do other roads first. I was a member of a local authority. The local authorities have always been telling me that they like to get the LIS money at the end of the year because it keeps their staff and workers employed. Particularly for the second tranche of money, one of the conditions is that they have the capacity to complete the work. They all tell us they have the capacity but the minute they get the money, they have no capacity. It is very hard for me to operate with them but I do my best. I provide the funding as best I can.

On sewerage and water schemes, to be fair to the Deputy, he pushed that County Clare one very hard. What we do not want, especially with the rural regeneration scheme, is to be a substitute for the schemes of any other Department. We want to provide new schemes that complement existing funding from other Departments and we have no problem with that. I will look at the water and sewerage issue but the lead agency will have to be the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. It will have to come up with a small scheme. The economy has gone through a difficult time and a lot of local areas are developing again. A lot of areas need group water schemes and, particularly, sewerage schemes. To be fair to the communities, they are prepared to put their hands in their pockets and set up the schemes. What we need to do is give them some support.

The Chairman has made many representations for the rural regeneration scheme in his county, including Kilrush, Loop Head, Lahinch, Ennistymon and the walled gardens. When I was Minister of State with responsibility for tourism, I planted a tree there and I would say that tree is well up now, as it were. These are all fine projects. These issues link in with the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, especially in respect of the national parks, for which County Clare will be getting some funding as it has one of the finest national parks in the country. We only have six national parks and sometimes people do not realise the asset they have. In Canada, America and other parts of the world, when they have a national park, they think they have the greatest tourism attraction. We have six of them, one as good as the other. They are tremendous assets that are not being used. I have to say to the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht that, to be fair, the National Parks and Wildlife Service did not get a lot of funding in recent years. When I went into the old Department, I dealt with the staffing problems it had. We set out a programme for it and got it extra funding. The national parks are a great asset and we should be making more of them. Fáilte Ireland has bought into the concept now and realises they are a tourist attraction and a tourism asset. I hope I have covered all the issues raised.