Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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13. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the details of the grants awarded in County Clare under the Covid-19 town and village renewal scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24316/20]

Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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What are the details of the grants awarded in County Clare under the Covid-19 town and village renewal scheme? I ask the Minister to make a statement on the matter.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Carey for raising this issue. This year's town and village renewal scheme has been tailored to assist our rural towns and villages to respond to the challenges presented by Covid-19. The scheme includes an accelerated measure which focuses on supporting initiatives that can immediately help towns and villages to adapt to social distancing requirements and provide safe environments for people to shop and socialise. With support from the Government's July stimulus package, funding of €10 million has been provided for this measure in 2020, which will be allocated under three funding rounds. I have already announced the successful projects under rounds 1 and 2 of the accelerated measure, with a total of €6.1 million being approved for 226 projects across the country. This includes funding of €227,163 for nine projects in County Clare. Funding applications under round 3 of the accelerated measure are currently being assessed by my officials and further funding announcements will be made when that process is complete. Details of all projects approved under rounds 1 and 2 can be found on my Department's pages on gov.ie.

Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I compliment the Minister on introducing this scheme and the way she has turned it around. Her Department has managed to deliver two rounds already and I look forward to the third one. The town and village renewal scheme is excellent. It is a ground-up approach. I work with community organisations throughout County Clare and this has given them a welcome lift in these times. God knows we need it. I compliment the Minister on that.

Does the Minister have plans beyond the next round to introduce a similar scheme for next year? What are her ideas on that? Has she looked for feedback from the local authorities? We have a very progressive local authority. There is a rural directorate in Clare County Council where Leonard Cleary is the director of services. The Minister should reach out to the local authorities throughout the country to get feedback from them with a view to developing a new scheme into the future.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is right that the town and village renewal scheme has been very successful since it was launched in 2016. It has worked extremely well, due to its co-ordinated bottom-up approach whereby local people work with local authorities and different groups to identify the projects and put in applications to get funding to make them a reality. The Deputy was very supportive of this scheme when he was chairing the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Rural and Community Development. He is also a big advocate for remote working.

12 o’clock

I was delighted that Cross in Clare got €40,000 to repurpose an old school to create a remote working hub and community social space. This is the kind of project that makes a difference.

Regarding the town and village renewal scheme, I will engage with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform on the budgetary ask but I assure the Deputy that it will remain a priority scheme for me and it will remain next year because it has proved to be very successful.

Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Cross on Loop Head is a great example of repurposing an old school as a remote working hub. It is fantastic. Ballynacally community development group has developed a community café and it got funding in the latest round to provide two self-catering cottages. Bunratty also received funding, as did Killadysart for the fit-out of a toilet and shower facility in the harbour. This is a wonderful initiative and I urge the Minister to continue that good work into the future.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I assure the Deputy I am engaging with the local authorities and will meet shortly with all the county and city managers. It is about working with local authorities and local communities in getting these projects developed and supporting them in doing that, which is what we want to do. People come up with ideas across the country and we want to help and support them. That is what the town and village renewal scheme and the rural regeneration development fund are all about.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I have two clocks contradicting each other so I will allow Deputy Mythen to raise his question and get a brief answer from the Minister. He has a minute and a half for the question and answer.