Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I support Deputy Ó Cuív with regard to local parishes. I live in Castlemitchell in rural Ireland and I am very worried about the one-off housing the Minister has mentioned, and how the Minister's plan stacks up against the national planning framework and the regional planning guidelines. I would love to see the Minister's plan happening. The Minister mentioned the farming community. In the past week, I have had two cases of people genuinely working in farming communities who have not been allowed to build one-off housing in the community. This is a major issue for us in rural Ireland. I welcome the fact that through the plan the Minister wants to see more people living in rural areas but this is a major stumbling block for us. Deputy Ó Cuív has also outlined it. Perhaps the Minister will come back on this.

Rural Link and transport links are a game changer in rural Ireland. I am aware of a number of new schemes that are with the NTA for approval. I am not sure what the Minister can do to try to get them through the NTA and the Minister for Transport and back to rural Ireland. One of the schemes I am aware of has been with the NTA for almost a year and has not been approved. It is for an area with which I am very familiar and it would make a change to those living there.

The Minister mentioned people living in rural Ireland who want to go into villages but there are serious problems in south Kildare with water and wastewater facilities and infrastructure. How will we tackle this to ensure we can build the houses mentioned by the Minister? It will be an important part of any redevelopment of rural Ireland. It is something we need to look at. There are serious problems.

I welcome the €70 million the Minister has announced for the transitional LEADER programme. I have spoken about the great work that LEADER does. How will the €70 million be distributed through the LEADER companies? Does the Minister have a plan for how each LEADER company will receive a percentage of the funding? I hope it will be based on the work they do and the projects they have in the pipeline rather than previous allocations because I do not believe they were fair. County Kildare received one of the lowest amounts in the previous allocation, which was totally unfair considering the work Kildare LEADER does and the projects it has in the pipeline. I would like to know how the allocation of the very welcome €70 million will be done this time.

How much is left in the pot for the rural regeneration fund? We have five very good projects in Kildare and we would like to get a few more. How much remains of the funding for towns with populations of more than 10,000 people?

The Minister mentioned Westport and one of the factors there was town planning and public realm plans. Will he allocate town planners to local authorities? This is the way forward. Each local authority should have a number of town planners who can work on plans for the villages and towns. This is how Westport has led and it is how we should go.

I want to be associated with the calls for a special meeting on the local employment offices. I know what the Minister has said but I am aware of the great work they do. We need to look at this again.

I support Deputy Kerrane's call for a one-stop shop for grants. It is great to see all of these grants but we need to have a central location for them. We are dealing with people who are volunteering in their communities. They look to us as public representatives. A one-stop shop would be very valuable.