John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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I advise members of the constitutional requirement that they must be physically present within the confines of the Leinster House complex in order to that to participate in public meetings. I will not permit a member to participate where they are not adhering to the constitutional requirement and therefore a member who attempts to participate from outside the precincts will be asked to leave the meeting. In this regard, I ask any member participating via Microsoft Teams to confirm prior to making their contribution to the meeting they are on the grounds of the Leinster House complex. Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice that they should not criticise or make charges against any person or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable, or otherwise engage in speech that might be regarded as damaging to the good name of the person or entity. Therefore, if a statement is potentially defamatory in relation to an identifiable person or entity, I will direct the member to discontinue their remarks. It is imperative they comply with any such direction. I remind all those in attendance to make sure their mobile phones are switched off or in silent mode.

The second item on our agenda is the consideration of the Supplementary Estimate for the public services 2025: Vote 42. I welcome the Minister's officials. While the committee has no role in approving the Estimates, it is an ongoing opportunity for the committee to examine departmental expenditure, make the budgetary process more transparent and to engage in a meaningful way on relevant performance issues. The Supplementary Estimate for Vote 42 - Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht was presented to the Dáil on 12 November 2025.

I call the Minister to give his brief opening remarks.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Gabhaim buíochas le baill an choiste, leis an gcléireach agus leis na baill foirne as an seans an Meastachán breise le haghaidh na Roinne a phlé. I thank the Cathaoirleach for giving us the change to discuss our technical Supplementary Estimate for the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht.

The proposed technical Supplementary Estimate covers just one movement of funds, which is €15 million in capital funding moving from LEADER to the local improvement scheme, LIS. The Revised Estimate for 2025 provided €42 million in funding for LEADER. However, the project approval process, which is undertaken by local actions groups, LAGs, has been slower than anticipated and, accordingly, savings have arisen within the programme area this year. This is allowing me to allocate €15 million in additional funding to the local improvement scheme. It is important that the committee note the LEADER programme will still make use of the full €180 million over the 2023 to 2027 period. It is just that the timing of the expenditure is now towards later years of the programme. There are over 750 projects worth €37 million approved by the local action groups and I am confident expenditure will accelerate through 2026 and 2027.

The additional funding for LIS will increase the allocation from €15 million to €30 million. Committee members will not be surprised to know this was a priority for me. There is significant demand for this scheme and it allows us to deliver quickly when the funds are available. This investment is bringing the amount allocated to LIS since 2020 to €135 million. This has improved well over 3,000 roads and benefited some 16,000 people. The level of investment in this area demonstrates this Government’s commitment to investing in our rural communities.

For completeness, I note that a small reallocation of current funding will take place within the Gaeltacht programme, with €700,000 moving from Irish language support schemes to the Irish language planning processes. The saving arose due to delays in recruitment and associated actions under the gréasán náisiúnta do na healaíona teangabhunaithe agus Gaeilge365. The funding will now be deployed to provide supports for Gaeltacht families across a range of events and activities. It will meet increased demands connected to arts and culture services and within the early years sector in the Gaeltacht.

Overall, 2025 has seen another year of very strong delivery by the Department. This movement of funds represents a very small adjustment in the context of an overall allocation of €575 million. The movement will allow my Department to put its resources to best use in supporting rural areas, Gaeltachts and communities throughout the country. I thank every single member of staff in the Department. I have had the privilege of leading the Department since January and they work incredibly hard in every part of the country. Yesterday, we gathered many of them in Athlone in a town hall to plan for next year. We have also expanded our Department this year with the addition of the functions from Roinn na Gaeltachta. Gabhaim buíochas le gach duine i Roinn na Gaeltachta atá mar chuid thábhachtach dár Roinn anois.

In closing, I thank the committee for its time today and yesterday with the auto-enrolment Bill, the social welfare Estimate and this Estimate. I thank the clerk and his team for facilitating us. I am happy to answer any questions that might arise.

John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister. I will now take questions from members on the Supplementary Estimate for Vote 42. Deputy Guirke is first up.

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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As somebody who got elected to a local authority in 2014 because of a campaign I started about the state of the roads, additional money will always be welcome. It is very important that LEADER is not losing out either. Why is it LIS and not CIS? Is that because they are private, not public roads? Is that the reason the money is going? In Meath, we always have an issue with the lack of money for LIS, CIS and local and regional roads. For years, they have needed a lot of money to bring them up to standard. The head of the council said years ago that even in the north Meath area, where I live, there was €20 million needed to bring the roads up to standard, so we always welcome money for the roads.

If I can go off-track slightly - the Cathaoirleach - the rural regeneration and development fund, RRDF, measure 1 funding applications will be open in the next couple of weeks. I would like to ensure that Meath is not forgotten about this time, as it was last time. I ask that it be looked on favourably because of the work the local authority has put into these projects. The communities and these towns badly need a lift. When it comes up in the measure 1 funding for RRDF, I hope the Minister will do his best for Meath.

John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy knows, the Cathaoirleach is always very responsive to those types of question. We will ask the Minister to respond in the best way possible.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Guirke. I am visiting Meath tomorrow and on Saturday, so I will be sure to investigate all those projects. We will be opening up RRDF measure 1 late this year or possibly in early January. That application window will be a number of months, given the complexity of the applications required.

On LIS, it is private roads but to be very clear, it is roads that are used by a lot of people. It can be roads into farmland and roads that are in a very difficult state. We have put €135 million into LIS since 2020, so that gives you a sense of travel. We could put another €135 million in within a year and still not get to the backlog. It is a very important scheme. In 2025, the original LIS allocation for Meath €548,771. We increased that by an additional €286,000 to bring it up to approximately €834,700.

I pay tribute to the Deputy's local authority, Meath County Council. It is a huge user of funds from our Department. I want to continue to invest in the local improvement scheme, LIS. I will revert to the Deputy on the community improvement scheme, CIS. That programme is being put into LIS. I will be working with colleagues on the programme for Government commitment to reintroduce scéim na mbóithre áise in Gaeltacht regions. That scheme is a cousin of the LIS focused specifically on Gaeltacht regions.

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister very much.

Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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I join with my colleagues from Meath in saying how important local improvement schemes are to Kildare and to rural Kildare in particular. However, I have recently come across a couple of problems with the scheme. There are two problems. Somebody was running a bed and breakfast business and so a road did not qualify because that person was classified as running a business. The Minister is right that this is farmland being farmed by a number of people but this disqualified them straight away. Will the Minister look at that again because that business is not doing as well as it was? The other problem is that there must be two users of a lane under LIS. I know of a number of cases where there is only one farmer but the farm is leased out so a number of farmers are using it. The LIS has made a big difference to rural Ireland and it is very welcome that the Minister is putting another €15 million into it but I ask him to look at some of the qualifying criteria. They are just a bit too tight for people like this who have been farming all their life but who are being caught by the fact that they are trying to run a rural bed and breakfast business, disqualifying them from the LIS.

The Minister has confirmed that the LEADER programme will use the full allocation of money. We can all agree that LEADER programmes are very important to many of our communities. As a former board member, I believe additional moneys should be provided. What is the Department's opinion as to why we are so slow to make decisions on the projects the Minister has mentioned? It has always been my opinion that we need to get that bit quicker. Is it the paperwork or do we need to install something else because a lot of the community groups that need funds need them for very specific reasons? The fact that there has been a delay is a worry in that respect.

Níl a lán Gaeilge agam agus tá brón orm as sin but the Minister is moving €700,000 from a support scheme to Gaeltacht families. Obviously, every penny that Gaeltacht families get is very important but, given the new fondness for the Irish language, which is very important, with our new President and so on, is it time to look at ensuring the Irish language gets to more people and to revisit the support schemes that are in place? The Minister visited Athy last week. I thank him very much for coming down for that launch. In my area, there are a number of new Irish groups coming up. I believe we should be encouraging more and more of them. As I said, tá brón orm nach bhfuil mórán Gaeilge agam but I would love to learn more of the language. A lot of people have done that over recent years. Is the fact that we are moving €700,000 from support schemes a worry for those new groups? Will the Minister comment on that?

Of course, I am going to mention RRDF funding with regard to Kildare. The Minister saw some of the great stuff that is happening in my own area but we could do so much more.

John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Guirke has started a trend.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I will make a general point in relation to LEADER because it is important. As the Deputy will know, LEADER is co-funded with the European Union. That brings an extra level of complexity in terms of reporting and administration, which we try to minimise for the local action groups, LAGs. This means we have to take them on in the Department. We are not fully in control of the application and reporting processes because of that. The funding to LEADER that comes from the European Union is provided in the context of the European Union budget, which is being discussed at the moment. Work on the medium-term financial framework will be under way in 2026. LEADER is part of that discussion. We have to make sure we have a ring-fenced LEADER allocation within the Common Agricultural Policy for rural communities. As the Deputy has said, it is vitally important. I am travelling to Strasbourg next week for a range of meetings, including a meeting with Irish MEPs about the importance of maintaining LEADER and the budget for it. In fairness to the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, he is working very hard for us. The Minister, Deputy Heydon, is also very much aware of this, as was the Tánaiste when he was Minister for foreign affairs. I have no doubt the Minister, Deputy McEntee, will also be very aware of it.

I will come back to the Deputy on those two issues relating to LIS but it is important that we have rules because we will otherwise never get to the backlog and people in very bad situations will be left waiting. The restrictions are in place to give us a chance at getting to the worst situations. This year, €464,765 was initially allocated to LIS in Kildare. That was increased by a further €102,097, bringing the total figure to €566,862.

With regard to Athy, it would be really good and worthwhile for the committee to see the Shackleton Experience in Athy as an example of what this Department is doing in its work with local communities and Kildare County Council. I am sure Deputy Wall would host the committee. It is an extraordinary and really amazing project. It has regenerated an old building in the middle of the town. It was done to the highest standards and came in on budget. I really encourage the committee to have a look at it. It is not that far away. It just shows you where we want to go. This project is a game-changer for Athy and is in line with another project the Department funds in the town, the food hub. Athy has been reimagined as a consequence of it, even on the football field.

In relation to cúrsaí Gaeilge, we all have Irish, we just need to use it. As I said to somebody earlier this morning, even if you only have three or words, if you use those three or four words every day, they will become ten or 11 words. Tá Gaeilge ag gach duine. It may be deep down, but it is there and should be used. We have just delivered the biggest increase for the Irish language since 2008 for 2026. It is a 29% increase in the Gaeltacht and islands budget, including a 22% increase on the Gaeltacht side of things. That compares with an 8% increase in overall Government expenditure. I was able to deliver a 22% increase for the Department of Social Protection. We will be able to deal with a lot of the issues we dealt with earlier. I am very focused on the Gaeltacht. It is amazing to see the energy that is out there at the moment. It is being driven by young people. Groups such as the conradh have done great work. The officials in the Gaeltacht section of my Department have been working very hard on this for many years. Through this increase, we will fund a number of initiatives including initiatives for Gaeltacht Gaeilge-speakers and Gaeilge-speakers in non-Gaeltacht areas, Irish language support groups and so on. We will be able to increase funding by working with colleagues in Foras na Gaeilge and an conradh. I am very confident we will be able to invest significant money. I encourage every Deputy to take part in the ciorcal comhrá here in Leinster House, which is run every few months. It is definitely worthwhile to take part in that.

Eoin Hayes (Dublin Bay South, Social Democrats)
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I strongly support that support for the Gaeltacht and the Irish language. I was unlucky in that I was exempt from Irish in school. Nonetheless, labhraím Gaeilge gach lá. I try to learn a little bit. I have only started learning in the last year or so. It is really important. To add to the words of Deputy Wall, the Irish language is experiencing a renaissance, particularly among the young population. The more we can do to support that, the better. I thank the Minister for providing more funding for that. We will do all we can to support him.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I particularly want to draw attention to Gaeilge365, which is a project led by Dublin City Council that supports the Irish language in the services the council offers. We have given that project significant funding. Every local authority should take that on board. I pay tribute to everyone in Dublin City Council who led out on that.

John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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On my own behalf, I will note that it is very welcome to see that additional €15 million being allocated to the local improvement scheme. Has that already been allocated to the local authorities for drawdown in 2025? The Minister mentioned Kildare and Meath. County Cork also has a lot of rounds under the LIS. Do the councils have the allocations now and will they be spent by the end of the year?

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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They got their allocations in August. Cork's original allocation for 2025 was €1.163 million. It got an additional €1.167 million in the supplementary allocation, which brings the total to €2.331 million. We are just waiting on the returns to come back from local authorities. There were some very difficult conversations this summer with local authorities that did not spend their allocations in 2024, although that did not include Cork.

With some of them I could not understand why they did not and why they sent money back. I am confident that no money will be coming back this year after those conversations.

John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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There was an issue with discrepancies in the cost of the road per local authority. The Minister mentioned that at his previous appearance before this committee. Has there been an advancement on that?

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I do not have an answer on that today but I will come back to the committee on the spend per kilometre and the administrative spend. I will give an overview of that maybe in the first quarter of 2026.

John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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The Minister's mention of LEADER is very welcome. LEADER has been a huge asset to a lot of communities. The bureaucracy around it is not a matter for us or the Department but involves collaboration with Europe. Certainly, if we can make that process easier, we will see an earlier drawdown of those funds. I know from everybody working on the CAP negotiations that it is a priority to get a separate allocation for the next round, so I appreciate that.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I am not sure what the committee's work plan for 2026 is, but if it does involve a trip to Brussels, which in the context of the Presidency it may, we need everybody to be very clear that this funding is not guaranteed, and given the changing priorities in Europe, we need to make sure we are campaigning for LEADER funding. If the committee is visiting Brussels in 2026, I would encourage the members to do that.

John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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We will indeed. We have a trip to Brussels and a trip to Kildare organised as of this morning.

I thank the Minister and his officials for their contributions today and for providing the committee with briefings in advance of today's meeting.