Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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4. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will extend the 2020 town and village renewal scheme outline for the accelerated measure in response to Covid-19 to enable more communities to avail of this funding. [24462/20]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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The Ceann Comhairle has given permission to Deputy Cairns to ask this question.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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The town and village renewal scheme with accelerated measures for Covid-19 has been a welcome and successful programme. It has supported 106 towns and villages across every county to adapt to living with Covid. For example, it has facilitated the purchase of stage and amplification equipment for community events and concerts in west Cork and the revamp of Macroom town centre. Given the success of the scheme, will the Minister please extend it to enable more communities to avail of this funding?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy 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 to enable towns and villages to introduce initiatives immediately in order to support increased footfall and enable people to shop and socialise safely in accordance with public health guidelines. The scheme also includes a standard measure that places a focus this year on the recovery of towns and villages from the impact of Covid in the medium term.

When the 2020 town and village renewal scheme was launched in May, it had a budget of €15 million, including an indicative allocation of €5 million for the accelerated measure. The Government's July stimulus package provided an additional €10 million to the scheme, allowing the allocation for the accelerated measure to be doubled. This extra funding for the measure has allowed my Department to increase the number of funding rounds from two to three, increase the number of applications that can be submitted by local authorities and, as an exceptional measure, provide funding under the accelerated measure for larger towns with populations of more than 10,000 people. This is in recognition of the importance of larger towns in supporting the economic and social fabric of surrounding rural communities.

Successful projects under rounds 1 and 2 of the accelerated measure were announced recently, with a total of €6.1 million approved for 226 projects, including those Deputy Cairns mentioned. Applications under round 3 for large towns are being assessed by my officials. Further announcements will be made when the process is complete.

Applications under the standard measure for towns and villages will place a focus on the next stage of recovery. That process will be announced at a later stage.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Minister. The town and village renewal scheme's funding is the type of practical and tangible support that communities need. At a time when rural areas have been significantly impacted by the pandemic, the scheme is not only helping us to adjust, but is offering a lifeline for main street shops and other family businesses. The two schemes have cost just over €6.1 million so far this year, which is an investment that will pay back manifold for the communities concerned.

However, the town and village renewal scheme required communities to almost compete against one another due to the limited funding available to each local authority. Many areas that put together excellent proposals did not get funding, which is disheartening, especially this year. To help boost towns and villages, will the Minister provide additional funding to each local authority to invest in the communities that have already applied but were unsuccessful in previous rounds?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The town and village scheme is close to my heart because I first established it when I had responsibility for the rural development brief in 2016. I am glad to see that it has gone from strength to strength. It has seen millions of euro invested in rural towns and villages across the country. It has a bottom-up approach where communities are able to engage with one another, identify what they want to do in their towns and submit applications for funding.

We originally had a budget of €15 million for the scheme. I have since got an extra €10 million, bringing the total package up to €25 million this year. The €10 million has been allocated to the accelerated measures. There are good things being done, for example, providing outdoor seating, enhancing community centres to allow remote working and adapting community spaces. As the Deputy mentioned, outdoor cinemas are becoming popular. Some towns are organising them. Others are widening their footpaths to make them safe for social distancing.

There are 226 projects involved, with approximately €6 million spent to date. There is still €4 million in the budget.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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The scheme is welcome and has helped, which I appreciate. However, villages have tended to lose out. These communities, which often live in the shadow of regional towns, could do with a crucial boost this year. For example, Ballydehob in west Cork put together a fantastic application reimagining the whole village as an inclusive social space where locals and visitors could avail of refreshed spaces, outdoor seating and new facilities for community events.

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That is one example. Other villages such as Eyeries, Drimoleague and Belgooly would all benefit immeasurably from this type of targeted intervention.

The Minister mentioned an additional scheme for towns with populations of more than 10,000 from August. I ask for a similar scheme at the other end of the scale, from the bottom up, for towns of under 1,000. Places in my constituency such as Schull, Drinagh and Innishannon could apply. They desperately need it. As a fellow rural Deputy, the Minister will understand the difference this will make to those communities.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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We increased it. There is still money left in the pot. It is targeted at the larger towns but there is nothing to stop the villages applying under the standard town and village scheme which is still open for applications until 30 September. I will leave it to places that have not been successful to continue to engage with the Department and put in amended or adjusted applications that may qualify for funding.