Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputies Cahill and Conway-Walsh for their remarks. Regarding the review, we have fully implemented five recommendations. Actually, I had a meeting yesterday with officials on the remaining ones, including extending eligibility to people not directly engaged in farming or fishing but who have a connection to a rural community and the issue of two people accessing it. I have asked them to come back to me on those issues.

Regarding Deputy Cahill's comments on biodiversity, we are committed to exploring opportunities with key stakeholders that will provide options for grant funding for green initiatives and to further explore options for those who wish to volunteer their time to local services. My Department is engaging with officials in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and in my other Department of Rural and Community Development as well as local authorities, which are important in this space, to allow us to deliver collectively on the recommendations in the RSS review. Most importantly, we will continue to engage with the farming and rural development organisations.

I am aware that, despite the fantastic work of the scheme and its supervisors and so-called implementing bodies, there are vacancies in schemes all over the country. I know those can be filled if we have the right flexibility.

There are vacancies and schemes all over the country that I know can be filled if we have the flexibility. One feature relating to all of these schemes - RSS, Tús and CE - is that I want there to be a greater understanding within my Department that they are no longer just labour market activation schemes; they are far greater than that. Something we want to see is that these schemes have a social employment value but also are of social value to participants on the scheme and provide services to communities, as referred to by the Deputy, that otherwise would not be available. We would be a far poorer country without the work done by RSS, CE and Tús schemes.

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