Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for sharing his time with me on the important topic of this Private Members' motion. I welcome the overall funding package for the next Leader programme, which should not be taken for granted. Normally, when one fights for things, once they have been obtained, people, particularly those in Opposition, move on to the next fight without acknowledging, as in this case, that the securing of €250 million in funding has been a massive achievement by the Minister. The EU regulations stipulate that a minimum of 5% of the rural development programme be allocated to Leader, and Ireland has decided to increase its proportion to 7%, acknowledging the vital role Leader has played in rural development down through the years.

It is vital that greater efficiencies and operational savings are achieved in the delivery of the new programme. As in any facet of public life, we have had to cut our cloth to suit our measure across the board. We must ensure that we find greater efficiencies, minimise administration costs and maximise the funding available to support projects and local communities.

The Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas, CEDRA, launched by the Taoiseach last month, identified a range of areas of particular need that could be supported through Leader interventions. These include economic development, job creation, rural tourism, enhanced national communication initiatives to improve broadband and building community capacity. Broadband provision, in particular, strikes me as a particularly important issue. The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, recently unveiled Government plans to extend fibre broadband to villages and towns around the country that currently have a significant deficit. This is a crucial issue in my constituency of Kildare South where people who currently commute could work from home a few days a week. That would have a massive impact on local communities and a knock-on impact on improving the quality of life for many people. If there was a way to allocate some of this money, for example, towards increased and improved broadband provision, that would have an knock-on impact on economic development, job creation and small start-up businesses where people could work from home, as many people who have businesses already do. The knock-on impact on local communities would be very significant.

I would like to reference some Leader projects that have already been undertaken in Kildare South, with which I have worked closely and directly. The Minister will be well aware of the community centre project in Suncroft, for which funding was sanctioned recently, and the Kilcullen child care centre that was allocated funding of €317,000. Mistakes were made along the way and there were delays and huge headaches for local community groups. As a local Deputy, I ended up being dragged into the middle and going back and forth between Department officials, the local community groups and the County Kildare Leader Partnership. The Minister is aware of the issues that I have highlighted to him. In the formation of a new Leader programme, we must ensure that instances such as those do not happen in the future.

Funding under the programme has had a positive impact. The child care centre in Kilcullen opened today. In Suncroft the development project is continuing apace. Only last week the community had a hugely successful "Strictly Come Dancing" event to help fundraise the last segment of the project, and it was a real example of community spirit. I am thinking of places such as Rathangan, which was granted funding of €500,000 for a community centre, and Castledermot, which was granted the same amount of funding. Deputy Calleary mentioned the heart being taken out of rural towns and villages. These were communities that were left behind in the boom that the previous Government, of which his party was a member, oversaw. When one meets people from Castledermot now, one does not hear them talk about derelict buildings or issues in their town but about a huge sense of community pride. The old school that has been redeveloped on Main Street has transformed the community, and this has brought out the best in the people. Castledermot has a population of 1,398 people, according to the last census, and the funding allocated of €500,000 has been a massive investment in that small community. Rathangan has a population of fewer than 2,500 people and Suncroft has a population of 735 people, and the funding allocated to those communities has made a massive contribution. What we are doing in terms of reform is adopting a citizen-centred approach that concentrates and gets the best return on such investment.

It has been suggested that local authorities are a problem and that we should avoid putting any services their way.

That has been the Fianna Fáil approach in the past, ever since it abolished rates in 1977, a decision that forced local authorities to go cap in hand to the Government. The establishment of local enterprise offices and the centring of a broad range of services therein will allow us to maximise the return from the existing local government structures and leverage them more effectively. I trust local authorities to use the additional powers they have been given, including those relating to the local property tax, to best effect. With greater power comes greater responsibility and accountability and this, in turn, will give us a much more accountable and fit-for-purpose local authority structure. The provision of community services and their administration should be undertaken through this improved structure.

I acknowledge the Minister's engagement with the Irish Local Development Network on its alignment implementation role. I take the opportunity to thank the local development companies throughout the country, past and present, for the work they have done in local communities. I look forward to seeing a stronger Leader programme into the future, a programme that will facilitate the great community spirit we have seen throughout the country in the past.

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