Dáil debates

Wednesday, 27 May 2020

Covid-19 (Local Government): Statements

 

9:00 pm

Photo of Frank FeighanFrank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is great to see the Minister of State here today. He spoke about his Leitrim connections. I believe the last time I met him was for breakfast in his adopted family home in Dromahair in north Leitrim. He is very aware of the issues in that county and, indeed, in all the counties throughout the country. I wish to discuss three issues. The first has been raised by other Deputies. Will he outline to the House how and when he expects to be able to reimburse smaller local authorities such as those in Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon and Donegal for the loss of their rates base in 2020? How are they expected to be able to continue to afford their services without Government assistance? Should larger county councils that currently sit on banks of capital be asked to assist?

It has been a very difficult year for those smaller counties. There was flooding in Leitrim and particularly Roscommon in the first few months of the year. The resources of the local authorities and all the stakeholders were just incredible. They were there every day keeping the flood water out and trying to protect businesses. Once we got over the flooding the Covid-19 crisis arose, which has been the same throughout the country. With regard to the front-line workers and all the workers in the local authorities, we should be very proud of their vocation, dedication and professionalism. The first six months of this year have certainly been very difficult. However, there is a very serious issue regarding smaller local authorities and, like other Deputies, I believe we must address it.

The second matter is social housing delivery targets under Rebuilding Ireland. The local authorities were quite successful when the downturn happened. There was a great deal of good quality and affordable accommodation and it was great to see that it was bought on the open market by the local authorities on behalf of the public. It certainly helped with the housing stock. However, they were competing with other people. The new directive is that more houses be built by the local authorities. The lengthy approval process of 18 months where one had to go through four stages has effectively been removed, but I am a little concerned about the one-off house. I am aware of one area where the council might not be in the best position to buy a one-off house. It is still on the market. What are the exact requirements for the local authority to buy the house? Is it as easy or as open as it was previously? I believe there is still an opportunity. Sometimes in areas such north Roscommon, Leitrim, Sligo or Donegal there are affordable houses for €60,000, €70,000 or €80,000. One just could not build them for that. It is a big opportunity. It is not always one size fits all.

Finally, I wish to raise an old chestnut. I am delighted the Minister of State is here as I did not realise he would be.

We have an issue with the spelling of Enniscrone, whether it is I-N-I-S-H-C-R-O-N-E or E-N-N-I-S-C-R-O-N-E. It has become a huge issue in towns and villages across the country. We did not think it was such an issue but everywhere we go we put our destination into Google maps and this issue is causing serious damage in terms of tourists, businesses and people going to the town. We have the Irish spelling, which 95% of the people do not recognise and want to change. We had a meeting attended by more than 700 or 800 people. We also had a very productive meeting with the Minister of State but the people want to have a plebiscite. I have said previously that there is a type of turf war going on between the Gaeltacht and the non-Gaeltacht Departments. We were very close to getting legislation in place until the Government fell. Can the Minister of State outline the position on that legislation? Will this issue get top priority if a new Government is formed? The issue with the placename is causing a great deal of confusion and people cannot understand why it cannot be changed and have the Departments come together to try to address this issue once and for all. It is not just an issue for Enniscrone. There are many towns and villages throughout this country dealing with a similar issue. We had it years ago with An Daingean-Dingle. People simply cannot understand that it takes so long and so much legislation to deal with it. I am aware it has to go through a plebiscite in terms of the local authority but can the Minister of State inform me of the current position on this very interesting situation?

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