Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My role as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform involves setting the allocations for capital expenditure across a number of Departments relevant to this NSO. This objective, as the Deputy knows, seeks to strengthen rural economies and communities. It applies to the traditional pillars of the rural economy as well as those emerging from such developments as improved transport connectivity, national broadband delivery, climate action and rural economic development. The sectoral strategies here include some important policy objectives and projects, such as Our Rural Future, the Town Centre First policy, Food Vision 2030, the Investing in our Culture, Language and Heritage strategy, the Linking People and Places tourism strategy, and the national sports policy. An extensive number of projects are already being rolled out through the €1 billion rural regeneration and development fund, RRDF. As of the end of October the RRDF has allocated funding of €280 million for 191 projects across the country worth a total of €380 million. Examples.of this include the Cahersiveen town centre regeneration project in County Kerry and the Cahir town centre regeneration project in County Tipperary. I congratulate the Deputy on the role he played in lobbying and securing funding for the project in Charleville town centre in the recent allocation.

Under the national broadband plan that commenced roll-out in 2020, some 1.1 million people living and working in over 544,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms, along with almost 700 schools, will receive access to high-speed broadband. As of the end of October, over 97,000 premises can order or preorder high-speed broadband connections. More than 87,700 premises have been passed and are ready for immediate connection.

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