Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat Senator Garvey. I must say she looked exceedingly well on television last night when she discussed railways with former Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, in Clare. The remote working hub in Ennistymon is a great example. We highlight it as one of the real success projects in Clare. We held it up as an example so other communities and towns could see that what is being done there is really exemplary.

The Senator talked a good deal about the bus service. I am happy to raise those issues with the Minister, Deputy Ryan. The Senator will have to talk to the local authorities about cleaning the bus stops and signs. I often think that if I had time and a brush I would go out and wash a few of them, to be honest.

I take the Senator's point that community development officers need that skill set. There is a big focus, through the LEADER programme, on empowering communities and trying to get them to come together to develop plans. People in a particular village told me a good story that should give hope and encouragement to others. The people in the village came together as a community to build a hall. They were looking for PEACE funding at the time. They were told that they had to build capacity within the community and that they had to consult and do this and that. They were a bit sick of it because they knew they wanted a hall. However, they could not get a hall until they went through this process. They will tell one today that it was the best process they ever went through because they had to consult with each other, sit down and identify their priorities. We need that facilitation across communities, both urban and rural, so they can feel empowered, can be given the confidence to put together ambitious plans and be helped to realise them. It is important the people working with communities have the right skill set.

I did not answer the questions raised by the Chair, Deputy Naughten, and Deputy Donnelly on the issue of CE and Tús services. There are no other private operators in the market, so they get a grant towards the costs. By virtue of the service they provide, no procurement is necessary. That is just for clarification.