Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Richard Bruton, is responsible for the overall Government plan for climate change action.  All Departments will have a role to play in supporting the plan, initiatives and targets set out by the Minister in this regard. Acting on climate change now is a Government priority and important for the future of all our communities. My Department is actively participating in relevant cross-Government discussions and plans and will contribute to the overall national effort on climate action through its work with communities, including communities in rural Ireland. Supporting the development of resilient and sustainable communities is at the heart of my Department's mission. I will work with colleagues across Government to deliver a fair transition to a low carbon economy. To ensure buy-in to the changes in behaviour required, it will be important to support communities, particularly those in rural areas, during the transition.  Engagement with communities will be key to the delivery of climate change targets and my Department will work to make this happen within existing community structures such as local community development committees, or LCDCs.

The Department will continue to support and fund community initiatives to help Ireland's transition to a low carbon society through the wide range of programmes we deliver. These include the LEADER programme's rural environment theme, which will see almost €24 million invested in projects up to 2020, funding from the rural fund, the social inclusion and community activation programme, and the town and village renewal scheme. Climate change can present opportunities for rural communities. As such, I have also allocated LEADER funding to those exploring the potential of renewable energy locally. Social enterprises can also make an important contribution to Ireland's social and economic progress, including the delivery of environmental and climate action related services. A draft national social enterprise policy published in April for public consultation closed on 14 May 2019. The views expressed during the consultation will now be considered by our line Minister, Deputy Michael Ring, in advance of finalising the policy. Our Department will continue to keep under review its policies as they apply to communities and rural Ireland and each of the funding schemes and programmes to ensure they complement the overall Government objectives of climate change mitigation.

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