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

I thank the Deputy for raising those issues. In terms of energy, the GAA clubs and all of the sports organisations apply to the Department with responsibility for sport. Then there is support for businesses. I wanted to make sure that the community and voluntary sector got the support it needed. We have a €10 million fund that is being administered by Pobal on our behalf. If an organisation is a registered charity, it applies to Pobal. There are also some others out there and I thought that we have to cover them off as well. Some groups are not registered and they are playing a very important role because they are community groups doing good work on the ground. Therefore, we gave another €10 million to the local authorities and that will be administered through the local community development committees, LCDCs. Each local authority has been allocated a fund, all of which are over €200,000 or €300,000. I do not have the list for every local authority but it was announced last week. The local authorities have a pot of money and it is up to them to support the groups that do not fit anywhere else, which is basically what this fund is about. All of the registered ones can apply to Pobal and then there are the others, which are probably smaller groups, and they can get support through the local authority. We just wanted to make sure that there were no gaps in any of this and that community organisations that, for example, have electricity bills that are bigger than they thought, would be able to get support. They might need to buy something or there might be some small cost, and they can apply for that fund. That is its purpose.

The Deputy asked about town centres and the RRDF. I thank him for the warm welcome I had in Waterford. I also thank him for the blaa, which was very good. I was in Cappoquin to announce the biggest ever funding under the RRDF of €115 million. We can see where the people in Cappoquin are going to spend the money, and it is needed. They have started to make changes there. I was in the old pub that was converted and turned into a remote working hub. It is a fine job. That was supported through one of the schemes in my Department. I went to visit a number of other places. This money is making a difference on the ground. I encourage communities that have not looked at what is available to come together. I have been encouraging the LEADER companies and local development companies to try to build capacity. I always believe that some communities are very well organised and are great at filling out the application forms - they tick all the boxes - but there are those that are not as good at doing that. I want to reach out to them as well. I want everybody to get a fair share. I do not want the same people coming back all of the time and getting funding because they are good at submitting applications. Obviously, we have to have a standard. We are talking about a lot of money and there has to be good corporate governance. Local authorities need to be involved as well because they are able to help out in many different ways.

In terms of rural regeneration, we are seeing progress. There are 102 projects at implementation stage, which means under construction for category 1 projects. We are pushing local authorities to deliver. We have met with the City and County Management Association to say that the local authorities need to deliver. The Secretary General of my Department has also written to the local authorities to keep the pressure on. I know there are a lot of demands on local authorities, and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is pushing them to deliver as well. I want to see delivery for rural areas and for towns and villages too.

We have appointed town centre first officers. They should be able to pull things together. Again, it is about working with the business community and looking at the plans. For towns that do not have plans, we are supporting them to get a plan in place, see where they want to go, see what they need in their town, build on their strengths and address the weaknesses. The town centre first officers should be able to pull a lot of that together. We have funded them from the Department of Rural and Community Development. The town centre first policy will dovetail with the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke. I launched Town Centre First in Moate with the Ministers of State, Deputies Peter Burke and Deputy Noonan. There is a strong focus on planning and working together. In my Department, there has to be a funding stream that suits whatever scheme people are thinking of. We have a plethora of different things and there is bound to be something people can apply for. If there is not, I will be surprised, let me put it that way.