Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I know we are in an echo chamber much of the time, but we could do without being in one literally. My first two questions were going to address digi-hubs and broadband connection points, but those issues have been relatively well covered now. We all understand why there has been a slowdown in trying to hit the targets we were aiming at and that it is pandemic-related. We all want to see that process expedited as much as humanly possible. Remote working presents great opportunities for all rural communities, but especially so for the islands and in trying to get life back on some of them.

Turning to the town and village renewal scheme and the town centres first initiative, the Minister knows that I think the town centres first approach can be transformative for rural Ireland, and especially if we pursue it in the right ways. A sum of €20 million has been allocated to the scheme for this year. We struggled to spend the money allocated last year, however. Again, we all probably understand why that was the case, but I ask the Minister to comment on that aspect. Regarding the future of this initiative, is a pathway foreseen that will allow for the money to be spent and spent in the proper ways? I am talking about skills and whether we are facing a deficit of the required skills, particularly regarding bringing heritage buildings back into use. I would also very much welcome the Minister's comments concerning trying to tackle vacancy and dereliction in our rural towns. It is an important issue. However, many 18th- and 19th-century market town buildings will require very specific skill sets to bring them back into use.

Turning to the town centres first master plan funding, I strongly believe that if we are planning for a town centres first approach, we must plan from a community basis upwards. The collaborative town centre health check programme is a great model and I hope it is the one we are going to use. I also have a question regarding the public participation networks, PPNs, and where the line funding for those is to be found in the Revised Estimates. I note that it was moved from its own budgetary line into subhead B3, which is the allocation for supports for the community and voluntary sector. That change had the effect of suggesting that the funding for the community and voluntary sector had been increased, whereas if the PPN element is stripped out I believe there was an overall decrease in funding. I would like the Minister to comment on that point as well.

Moving to the Charities Regulator, the number of charities submitting annual reports decreased from 7,321 to 5,910. The bare figures alone do not give me much information. Will the Minister help me to understand those figures a bit more regarding what they show as happening in the charity sector? Is it something this committee should be aware of?