Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

It is so important that the approach to community and rural development is done with accessibility and climate action at the heart of it. Rural communities need to be consulted to best establish how this can be done. I will start with climate action and move on to disability.

The only way we can get public support for real climate action is by communities wanting it and feeling a part of it. Therefore, the only way we can succeed in the face of climate change is if climate action helps communities. To find out how we do this, needless to say, we must speak to those communities. The Government narrative for too long has suggested that climate action will negatively reshape rural areas. In particular, we hear that in regard to it negatively reshaping agriculture. The result is that the very communities that will be the most severely impacted by climate change are the ones that are most scared of climate action. Coastal communities are even more at risk. We talk about climate change like it is something in the distant future, but in areas like west Cork we are already seeing and feeling the devastation caused by climate change. Since the summer, so many areas of west Cork have been flooded after repeated extreme weather events, and that was before we even got into the winter storm period.

Sustainable development needs to be central to rural and community development. This has to happen across a range of areas. Ireland needs to fulfil its international emissions targets and we need an overhaul of the proposed climate action Bill, which has been deemed too vague and lacking accountability by climate scientists and legal experts. As An Taisce has argued, any serious climate legislation needs to have clear-cut obligations on the Government to meet our international climate commitments annually as well as consequent accountability for failure to do so. We need a whole-of-government approach. The Department of Rural and Community Development should play a key role. Departments and local authorities have to engage more with communities to develop viable solutions for each area. A one-size-fits-all approach simply will not work. Building on schemes such as CLÁR and the walks scheme, the Department, in conjunction with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, should initiate a climate action programme to enable each community to decide how it can best mitigate against climate change. Transition towns, such as Kinsale, have established models that can help direct these types of initiatives. Too often, policies are punitive rather than empowering. Funding from the Department must be based on sustainability that can future-proof rural areas and encourage practices that enhance the natural environment. All schemes and programmes, including the transitional LEADER arrangements, should emphasise providing sustainable development and job creation.

I am a member of the new Joint Committee on Disability Matters. One of the main aims of the committee is to ratify the optional protocol of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

This will mean the State can be held accountable for denying people their right to exercise their rights under this convention. For too long people with disabilities in Ireland have been excluded from being able to exercise their rights. Any future community development must be done in a way that does not exclude people. Every town plan, and every village and urban development needs to ensure accessibility from the outset.

The absence of audible pedestrian crossings is impacting people with visual impairments. People from Bandon, Clonakilty and other areas in west Cork have contacted me. The recent urban regeneration in Clonakilty created new access issues. I recently spoke to a constituent in Ballydehob who cannot bring her mother, who is in a wheelchair, around the village because the footpaths are unsuitable. There are many more examples like these. These are all issues that can be easily resolved with proper consultation and proper planning. Planners, architects, and engineers should be required to engage with expert groups, such as the Irish Wheelchair Association, the National Council for the Blind, the Disabled Drivers Association and community-based access groups to ensure priority areas of need are addressed promptly and effectively.

The expertise of the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design at the National Disability Authority needs to be utilised more in the planning, modification and building of our cities, towns and villages. It has the tools and policies to help ensure we build environments that are accessible and used to the greatest extent possible by people regardless of age, size or ability. The Minister needs to ensure that all funding from her Department for town and village developments has built-in mechanisms to guarantee accessibility and involvement of expert and local groups for people with disabilities.

Community involvement and empowerment are key to ensuring both climate action and disability matters are at the heart of rural and community development. There is a lot of reimagining of our communities and public spaces as a result of the pandemic. There is an opportunity to employ artists and creators to act as facilitators in towns and villages to help imagine new solutions and to liaise with the groups I mentioned to address accessibility and climate action. Many of these practitioners, who have been severely impacted by Covid, have the skills to consult and help different groups in communities to set out a new vision for their areas. We should use their expertise and give them work while also empowering local populations to create communities that are accessible and environmentally sustainable.

I will not go into broadband because most other Deputies have. During the pandemic it is so important that people in rural areas have the opportunity to work from home.

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