Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House tonight as it is a sign that she is giving this very important matter the recognition it deserves. I will speak to the future of the Tidy Towns competition. I submitted a parliamentary question to the Minister on 17 September asking if the Tidy Towns competition would be allowed to proceed in 2021 under the current social distancing and public health guidelines.

The Minister replied by saying the Tidy Towns competition has a unique place in Ireland's culture and since its inception in 1958, when it had 52 entrants, the competition has grown year on year to see a record number of 924 entrants in 2019. Unfortunately, the 2020 SuperValu Tidy Towns competition had to be cancelled this year on public health grounds due to Covid-19. The work of the Tidy Towns committees is built on communities coming together and working together; in the position we found ourselves in this year, it would not have been possible for committees around the country to deliver their projects in the usual way.

The Minister acknowledges the importance of the competition. There are many committees throughout the country that want to continue if they can adhere to public health guidelines. They are seeking some solace from the Minister and the public health guidelines interpretation that there will be a competition next year. They are seeking the goodwill of the Government and the Minister so she might seek to do her very best to ensure the competition proceeds next year because of the importance of the competition. That is self-evident but if the committees had some words of comfort or a view on how the competition might proceed in 2021, it would give people a great lift in these times.

We know the character of the volunteers involved with the Tidy Towns competition and that there are many people who are semi-retired or retired who work on it. It is a competition that encourages young and older people to be involved. They just want some guidance and direction from the Minister. If it is in the affirmative, they would welcome such comment. Will the Minister work with the Tidy Towns competition in a way that will allow it to proceed in 2021? It would be a positive step on the part of the Government and for each of the committees involved.

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