William Aird (Laois, Fine Gael)

The witnesses are very welcome here today. I have a few things I would like to say. I thank them for all the work they have done previous to this in the local authorities. I was there for years, and we benefited in no uncertain way from the schemes. I was involved in an awful lot of the schemes and the filling out of forms and everything. I agree 100% with what Mr. O'Brien has said about the forms. This problem is found in every Department, as he has outlined. I am sorry to say that it is getting worse. I do not know why, or who designed these application forms, but they certainly should look at the people at the other end who are all voluntary.

I commend the local authorities because they are rolling out all these different schemes. There is one thing I would like to say: in any project the Department sends up for approval, a huge number of working hours go into it. Whatever happens or whoever is adjudicating on them, if you do not get the money for the project, that is the end of it. I have asked on several occasions - hopefully I will get answers now that I have been elected to the Dáil - for details on what happened and who adjudicated. I have asked to be given the marks to understand why we did not get it. We had a beautiful project recently in Mountrath in my own county, involving a walkway from the main street. I was very disappointed that it did not get approved for funding. Each individual town and village throughout our county is entitled to a share of the pie. It is important to do it from that point of view.

I will go back to the housing issue. There has to be more joined-up thinking as regards housing in urban areas and dereliction. We are all talking about dereliction. Everybody is coming here. I hear it day in, day out from all the different speakers in the Dáil. It is about putting boots on the ground. When I was on the council, I encouraged it to buy sites for rural houses and houses that were left unoccupied in urban areas and all that sort of thing. It would go through compulsory purchase orders, CPOs, and eventually it would get them. However, we could be talking about ten years by the time we would see the completed project. That is very unfair to everybody. People in the areas living close by want to see all these sites developed. People on the housing list would love to be living in that house or whatever the case may be. A little more joined-up thinking is needed. We must try to put a timeframe on the time that elapses from when a local authority buys an old house - or two or three houses together, as Mr. O'Brien mentioned - to get it done up or whatever it is. Surely a timeframe can be put on that. That is a huge problem I have seen down the years. When a great project is brought out, everyone is delighted and excited to see it - Mr. O'Brien spoke about painting - but the next thing is that it goes on and on and the good goes out of it.

We can see the schemes that were brought in that worked very well. Under the rural housing scheme, people got a grant to do up an old derelict house. There were two things in that. It gave an opportunity to a person in an urban area who wanted to live in a rural setting. A person who was born and reared in a rural setting, but was not lucky enough to be a farmer's son or daughter and could not get planning permission, could avail of this scheme to buy a rural house that was run down and get a grant to do it up and live in the rural community.

If we are serious about rural Ireland, we have to stand back and take a good look at all our villages in rural Ireland. If people cannot get planning permission and live in the rural area where they were reared, why are we doing so much talking about rural Ireland? That is the first thing. People want to live in rural Ireland in places like Ballacolla, in my local area, and all the different areas where there are small populations. There is benefit to that. It keeps the school going. It keeps all the local sporting activities that are there going.

When a person moves into a town, they get involved in all the sporting activities in the town, which takes from the rural area. I have seen that, but we just talk about it. I have made representations thousands of times for people in rural areas, only to be told by the local authorities that they did not have a local need. I would be told that I was there for the formation but we never said that. This came out through ministerial orders that were put down on local authorities. I am getting an opportunity here to say what I have been saying for the last 40 years on local authorities. The people who are deciding are not allowing it to happen. I do not see anything wrong with keeping our villages alive. That is why there is nothing as bad as seeing a rural school closed. When I pass through some of my communities, I see old school houses that are closed. They are all turned into community initiatives that the Department funds, and I accept that, but it is heartbreaking to see. This should never happen. That is why I am encouraging this at the moment. I am very concerned about my local school in Wolfhill, County Laois. It is a most beautiful school, which generations of people down through the years have attended. We are seeing such schools disappear before our eyes because we are not growing rural Ireland and rural counties. I want it to stop. Please bring this issue to the table in the new programme. Simple things can have great results for rural communities.

I want to acknowledge the work that was done on initiatives like Local Link. There is more work to be done. We have a hop-on, hop-off bus service and a bicycle hire scheme in Portlaoise. Both are working brilliantly. I was the first person to ride one of the bikes at the launch of the scheme, when I was a member of the county council in Portlaoise. Initially, people laughed but now they are queueing up for the bikes. When I travel, I use public transport whenever I can. I see people coming out of housing estates, getting on a bike, leaving it at the train station and coming to Dublin to work. That is what public transport is about. This scheme has worked. I compliment and thank the Department for it. The new programme definitely needs to have more joined-up thinking.

Climate change rules come under the remit of the witnesses as well. I thank all the officials who have worked hard to get the scheme in Mountmellick up and running. At least we have moved on to a more critical stage of it. It takes a lot of time and it is very frustrating.

We have to prioritise areas that have plans for greenways but have received no funding yet. I find this very difficult. I have been speaking to the Minister, Deputy Calleary, about it since I was elected to the Dáil. When the grants come out, we usually get them last, after everyone else. I look at what is in it for my county. I have three projects on the go. I am trying to get a greenway off the ground and we are trying to include that. There has to be more joined-up thinking on priorities on the part of Coillte and Bord na Móna. I am trying to get Bord na Móna to the table for a natural, proposed greenway that we have from Portlaoise. I am passionate about this. It was not a railway line; it was just a line that was used for moving peat off the bogs. The existing line has a very small gauge. It goes under the railway line, two main roads and two local roads. It could not be built today, as permission would not be granted to go under a national railway line. All of that is there but I am meeting obstacle after obstacle. I am really sick and tired of it. I am sorry to say this in public, but I am sick of it. I thank Laois County Council for coming on board with me. Everybody involved is pushing for it but it is just not happening quickly enough. That is why I am saying that when we have natural things within our county, everybody needs to come in and work for the greater good. That is all I am saying. It is not for me and it is not about votes. It is about leaving something for the next generation of people. We can see what we did with bringing biodiversity back in our towns that we had ignored for years. Bicycle lanes are another good example. I have been in politics long enough to see what happened. The wheel is turning. I ask the Department to consider simple things like that.

In Portlaoise now there is a grand little park where there is biodiversity, nature and everything. Kids are using it. I did not have that when I was a small lad in Portlaoise. Keep up the good work. I would appreciate it if the witnesses could answer some of my questions at the end. I do not want to take up anybody else's time.