Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)

That is no problem. We discussed earlier and briefly the CLÁR review. I welcome the fact it is being reviewed, although it is not before time. Will the Minister set out the timeline for that so we know and the local authorities are aware when that will have changed and when the findings of that review will be enacted or put in place?

With regard to the LEADER rural development programme, there is significant disquiet and concern among the LEADER companies in the State about what is happening at European level. The Minister mentioned in his opening remarks that it is a piece of work that is under way in terms of lobbying for it to remain an integral part of CAP and pushing for that to happen. What engagements has the Minister had to date with the Commission, at Council level or with the European Parliament to ensure it remains part of that and what is his plan with regard to lobbying for it to remain part of that? What is his sense of where other EU member states are at? It is crucial across Europe and certainly in rural parts of Ireland for economic diversification and economic development. There is real concern that the mood music in Europe is not particularly positive or healthy.

I mentioned before that I met the GAA president, representatives of the GAA’s national demographic committee and some of their regional and county demographic committee chairpersons about the rural depopulation issue. Has the Minister met GAA representatives or is he planning to meet them? What was his key takeaway from those meetings?

The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, mentioned that he visited Dungarvan in County Waterford. I thank him for the visit and for his engagement with the community there. As he knows, Dungarvan does not have a community centre but there is a piece of work at play there by the Waterford Area Partnership to examine the feasibility. What level of support will be available to the community to construct and develop a community centre? I would like to hear the Minister of State's thoughts about the model of co-location of a family resource centre, which is another community facility that we do not have in west Waterford, with the community centre? Has there been engagement between the Minister of State’s officials and officials in the Department of children in that regard?

We mentioned rural transport and the Local Link service. I know the Minister of State had a meeting while in west Waterford with the people concerned about what I would say are the top-down changes that were made to Local Link service 361. It is a fantastic route that serves the Gaeltacht in west Waterford and is connected to Dungarvan. That was expanded and had increased capacity but now does not work because of that. It was expanded to go into Youghal, which meant a larger bus and less time on the timetable, and it is now unable to stop at as many stops, which means it is not as suitable for people. This is a large, sparsely populated rural area where people have to walk a considerable distance to get the bus, which now stops at a limited number of stops. Can this be turned back? Can it be brought back to the service that was there, that was used and that people appreciated and liked?

On a final question to the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, governance requirements for community and voluntary groups are arduous and are dissuading people from getting involved as board members. It is something the Charities Regulator but also the Government needs to look at it. In some cases, larger organisations like development and area partnerships have huge governance work to undertake that, in and of itself, is a full-time job for these large organisations, be it in terms of charity regulations, employment regulations or a whole host of other matters. They are not necessarily funded for that work and I believe it is a barrier to their work at this point. I would like to hear the Minister of State's thoughts on that.