Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Michael Collins. To be fair, he started off very positively and I could not fault anything that he said. He has raised some of the issues that are being raised with me every single day. He started his contribution by talking in particular about the walks scheme and he is quite correct. I take this opportunity again and every opportunity I get to thank farmers for their co-operation around this country. To be fair to them, we have a great community spirit in rural Ireland. People come from all over the world and come from cities to walk the walkways around this country. One would not walk into somebody's garden in Dublin and expect to be able to go through it and that is why the walks scheme was set up. I have to say that farmers have been very generous and I thank them for their co-operation.

In the walks scheme, we have 39 trails with payments. We have approximately 1,900 people who are getting payment from the Department. We have spent €2 million per year on it and there has been no increase or no new call in recent years. I am glad to say to the committee that we have an extra €2 million in funding this year. It has been doubled and I have invited expressions of interest from trail committees, community groups and other similar bodies that are entitled to apply for the scheme in 2019. I am pleased that I am opening the scheme but I also note that I will not be able to facilitate every group and every scheme. There will be rules and regulations but at least we have doubled the fund this year and that is something with which we should be pleased.

The Deputy then raised the LEADER programme and again he talked about the difficulty people have in drawing down funding from it. There are a number of reasons why that is happening. This morning, Deputy Ó Cuív and other Deputies raised questions to me in the Dáil Chamber on the LEADER programme. As a Minister, I have made 31 changes to that scheme. I have made it easier for people to make applications, I have made it easier for the groups themselves to get the paperwork back to the Department and I have made the necessary changes to the LEADER project. To give an update on the LEADER programme, we have approximately 1,800 projects approved to the value of €62.25 million. We are already seeing a demand for the first quarter of this year. In the first quarter of this year, we saw an increase in the approvals and the funding that has been drawn down and I have to say that at last, the LEADER programme is beginning to happen.

We all knew that it always takes a while for the LEADER programme to ramp up. It is no different from all the other programmes. When profiled for the first three months of this year, we see an increase in LEADER funding, which is important. Last year, I put €35 million into the programme and that is down to €30 million this year. If we need further funding, I will certainly accommodate that. I hope we do because if so, it means that the programme is being ramped up. I am pleased with how it is being ramped up. The Deputy talked about the local development company providing assistance. With regard to the rural regeneration scheme, we told groups what has happened with their application. I put this on the record of the Dáil this morning and there is no harm to doing so again. Most projects that were shovel-ready were approved. Many local authorities and groups made applications that made out that they were shovel-ready. The question of rural regeneration schemes was raised with me before we even put out applications. I have had local authorities telling Members that they were going to Part 8 and had other works to do or did not have planning permission for some projects, and yet stated that they would be ready when they were not.

The Department is holding workshops around the country to assist the community groups that the Deputy talks about. One difficulty is what we call the helping hands event. I find in many schemes that I administer that many groups have professional people to make the applications for them. They have the funding to do that. There are other groups that I need to target and support that are not getting the funding that they should be getting, simply because they do not have the means to make the applications. That is why my Department is going out with Pobal to talk to and support groups, and to help them to make applications to schemes.

The Deputy talked about the local improvement scheme, LIS. I opened that scheme and it is working well. I wish I had more funding for it. Deputy Ó Cuív said something that I did not agree with, but I do now, and have the media on my back when I do it. I try to rationalise and give every county a certain percentage of the money. There are counties with a greater need for local improvement schemes than other counties. I need to start looking at that pro rataand giving it to counties with a bigger demand that are actually using it when they get it. That is in places like west Cork, Mayo, Galway and Leitrim. Leitrim is a small county which has more local improvement schemes than any other county in the country. I need to start to look at ways and means to give it to Leitrim and counties that have more of a need for LIS. If I have further funding between now and the end of the year, I will do that and will not listen to media asking what we are giving to each county.

We support the community services programme, CSP. Some 20 new organisations entered into that programme last year. We were supporting more than 400 community organisations. More than 1,900 posts have been provided for that scheme but the Department is not the employer. It is our job to support them and to give them the necessary grant aid. Earlier this year, I found a bit of extra funding and distributed that to groups. I let Pobal do that. It did not even have to make an application. It assessed the organisations that were most in need and that funding was distributed to them.

The rural regeneration scheme will be very good, especially for major projects in rural areas. It will take time. Phase 2 of that scheme is to provide funding to get projects ready. The local authorities have complained to me for years that they make applications and do not have the funding to put much work and resources into them. They find that they could put money into applications and then find that there is no funding for them. In the rural regeneration scheme, we gave funding to get projects ready for application for the scheme. That has worked well.

I think I have covered all the issues. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, to respond about broadband.