Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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29. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the developments he is proposing for the CLÁR programme in 2018; and when new elements of this programme will be rolled out in 2018. [8822/18]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Last year there was a massive underspend in the Minister's Department. We seem to be heading the same way because unless the money is out on the ground early in the year it will not all be spent by the end of the year. What developments is the Minister proposing for the CLÁR programme for this year and when will we hear the announcements and calls going out so we actually get the money spent in a timely way?

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The CLÁR programme is an important part of the Government’s Action Plan for Rural Development and makes a huge contribution to supporting the most depopulated areas in rural Ireland. Almost 900 projects have been approved for funding since I relaunched the scheme in the second half of 2016.

The programme has funded a range of measures over the past two years, including funding for safety measures for schools and community facilities, play areas and measures to support first responder groups. I intend to launch a new round of CLÁR funding this year and have secured an allocation of €5 million for the programme in my Department's Estimates for 2018. I am currently finalising the details of the measures to be funded this year and hope to be in a position to announce the details of the scheme over the coming weeks.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Does the Minister not agree that for the CLÁR areas and the challenges they face €5 million is a derisory amount of money and shows the lack of importance of the most depopulated of rural areas? When will he announce the programme for this year? January is gone; we are on the threshold of the end of February. The Minister knows that when he announces them it will take two or three months to get the proposal because of the complicated way he is going about his business. Does the Minister believe €5 million is adequate to deal with the challenges in these areas? When will he announce this year's programme and why has it been left? The Minister knew what he had back in October. Why is it that two months of this year are gone and nothing has happened?

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I will announce it very shortly. I have written to the local authorities and set out a schedule for the schemes and their timeframes for this year. The Deputy is quite correct on the underspend. I have €5 million again this year. It is a substantial amount of money and I will look to see what I will finally allocate but for now I have €5 million in the budget. The scheme has worked very well, particularly the measures I have introduced. The first responder scheme has worked well. The playgrounds have probably been a bit more difficult because some of them need planning and construction. I am very pleased with the outcome of the spend on the CLÁR programme. It was one of the better schemes that worked.

The Deputy has spoken about the funding. The Deputy, his leader and those in Fianna Fáil have been criticising the funding. In the budget for this year we have €88 million for capital funding. For 2019, we have €141 million. For 2020, we have €150 million. For next year I have a 60% increase in the budget. We have a major capital programme for the next number of years. The CLÁR programme was closed for many years. To be fair, the local authorities did not have the capacity and they did not know what schemes were coming down the line. I recently met representatives of the County and City Management Association and I have put my schedule in writing including when I expect to announce schemes. The local authorities also need to know the funding will be on a continuing basis, which is now guaranteed by the budget for this year and for 2019 and 2020.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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An allocation of €5 million works out at about €250,000 per county. Is the Minister telling me that in his county of Mayo, where virtually all of the county is in a CLÁR area except around Castlebar, Westport and Ballina, €250,000 is going to make any difference on the ground? Can he tell me whether he will have access to the €312 million fund that is intended for regeneration to top up the CLÁR fund from 2019 on so that areas other than the big towns will get their fair share of the money? We heard about the fund in the great national plan.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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There is a separate scheme for the big towns worth €2 billion. I will set out the priorities of my Department in the coming weeks. I will announce schemes and I will look at new schemes as part of the CLÁR programme. Deputy Ó Cuív asked a question about the CLÁR programme. The programme has worked very well. In my county a number of rural areas are delighted with the playgrounds and other facilities. We have put safety warning signs outside schools in every corner of the country, which have saved the lives of many children. We have provided grant funding for first responder groups. We have also provided grant funding for ambulances and other such facilities. The CLÁR programme is a great one. I will seek further funding to put into it. I like the programme and I will reinvent it. I opened the programme and now that I know we have funding for the future I can start planning to bring in other schemes into the CLÁR programme.

I will give a simple example to Deputy Ó Cuív. I was in Knockananna in rural west Wicklow last week. I funded a small playground there and in a number of other areas. The communities were delighted that they had such facilities and did not need to go to the big towns and cities for them. I am delighted the scheme is working. I am very proud of it and I want to continue to build on it and to try to get further funding for it.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Approval has been given to Deputy Martin Kenny to take the question tabled by Deputy Carol Nolan. He has 30 seconds to introduce his question.