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

I thank the Senator for his kind words. He is right about community development associations. They need a few bob to keep going. They have no way of getting money at present. We have helped them through the Covid fund. These are only small amounts, and it makes a big difference. We will work on that because the Senator is correct. It is not a great deal in the larger scale of things, but it means a lot to those community groups. It gives them that small bit of encouragement to keep going. They really have had a tough time.

The Senator spoke about people going to Roscommon and said they knew where it was because it is on the way to Westport. I will tell another story. People used to say the very same about Monaghan. They knew where Monaghan was because one goes through it on the way to Donegal. We will have to find a way of knocking them off at the pass and keeping them. It is sometimes difficult for inland counties because they do not have the beaches that Mayo and Donegal have. However, they have some wonderful natural amenities. I will launch the outdoor recreation fund in a few weeks. We can develop our parks. The Senator should not despair about the applications that came from Roscommon. There is money available. We do not want to leave the county behind. We want to work with it and help it realise its ambitions.

We have many natural amenities such as lakes, bogs and mountains. There is much there that we can build on and these counties can become a tourist destination in their own right. A park in Monaghan, Rossmore Forest Park, availed of funding over the years to improve the facilities. Believe it or not, it had become a destination before the Covid-19 pandemic. It is the second most visited park in the country. All I can say to the Senator is that we can do it. We will work with him on those particular projects. He brought them to my attention previously and I am happy to work with him on them to ensure they get the support they deserve. We will have to examine the specific ones in question. The Senator should tell them to contact officials in my Department.

On the credit unions, he reminded me of when I was in the credit union in Cootehill. My motto was that the credit union is the first-choice provider of financial services in the community. There is no reason they cannot continue to be that. We have to help them in any way we can. In fairness, we cannot forget the post offices as well. They are going to take over providing some of the services that we will lose when the banks move out. There is a double whammy at present because Ulster Bank is leaving and Bank of Ireland is closing branches. Certain people want to have face-to-face interaction, and both the post offices and the credit unions have an important role to play. It is important that we work with and support them. There is talk about a third bank. The credit union movement has the network and a great deal of expertise. There has been much investment in governance and the like over the past ten years. Credit unions are very professional organisations and we should work with them. The example of Canada is the best ever. It has a very strong credit union movement. There is a hub and spoke approach, where there is a centralised unit and the credit union offices provide all the services. In Canada, it is the main provider of financial services to the farming community. I do not see why we should not look at examples such as that, learn from them and apply them in this country.

I thank the Senator for his questions.