Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome everyone here and thank them for their contributions. Cycle lanes were just mentioned. I want to compliment all the councils on the work they have done and the funding that has come through in the last year. So many schemes have come through the county councils. They have tried to get them out to businesses and communities as quickly as possible. I am sure it has not been easy but it has been done very well. Many rural towns in my own county of Tipperary, such as Cahir and Cashel, and around the country have been enhanced on the back of the outdoor dining scheme. I compliment the work the councils have done throughout the pandemic.

I have four topics on which I seek some insight.

I ask our guests to comment on their involvement in housing. Is there more local authorities can give in terms of playing a role in building more houses? What is their view with regard to the Land Development Agency and what it will do?

Many people are discussing rural development and county development plans. I refer to the relationship of local authorities with Irish Water. It seems to me that the priorities of many local authorities within their county do not align with the priorities of Irish Water for the county. Is that difficult to align? Where do our guests see that going? It seems to me that the priorities of local authorities relate to economic growth whereas those of Irish Water relate to environmental aspects. We cannot attract people into rural Ireland, to counties such as Tipperary and elsewhere, unless Irish Water and local authorities are aligned. What is the view of the witnesses in respect of staffing issues and the ambitious targets that have been set out with regard to agreeing a way forward with Irish Water? What are their views in that regard internally going forward? Those targets set down in the White Paper are quite ambitious.

Reference was made to remote working hubs. It is really positive and very welcome. I am a huge supporter of such hubs in County Tipperary. It is all well and good to have remote working hubs in place, but there is a need for them to be managed. What role can be played by local authorities in the management of remote working hubs?

Several speakers touched on rural regeneration and the amount of funding that has come through the rural regeneration and urban regeneration funds. Obviously, costs have gone up in the past year but it seems to me that there is a difficulty in respect of the rural regeneration projects, rather than the urban regeneration projects. Is that the experience of county councils in terms of getting extra funding because of increased costs? I know Ms Farrelly stated that most projects are up and running but it seems that they are progressing more slowly than was hoped. Obviously, we are in the pandemic but, leaving that aside, do our guests believe there is a requirement for extra staff to get these projects moving? We are getting to a stage where groups are applying for money for phase 2 of projects but phase 1 has not necessarily been started. Is there a staffing requirement in that regard?