Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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73. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if an update will be provided on the provision of a community centre to the Ballyvolane area; if officials in her Department have met with either Cork City Council or local residents with the aim of achieving this; and the way a community can apply for funding to develop such a project. [17933/22]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Acting Chairman. It was my understand that such an email had been sent, so apologies in that regard.

The Minister of State will be familiar with this issue, which I raised with both the Minister of State and the Minister and which I raise today on behalf of Deputy Gould, of the area of Ballyvolane just outside Cork city. Almost 2,000 houses are planned for this area and yet, with two large strategic housing developments, SHD, in the pipeline, there is no community centre in the area. The request is there for a community centre in the Ballyvolane area.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy. To answer Deputy Gould's initial question about contact with our Department, my Department has not had a direct approach from Ballyvolane residents in relation to the building of a community centre in the area, although I am informed there were meetings between the residents and Cork City Council on the matter.

In terms of the supports we provide, the community centres investment fund, which was recently announced by the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, will be launched shortly. This will support community groups, particularly in disadvantaged areas, with the upgrade and development of their existing community centre facilities. This fund is not intended for the construction of new buildings, however.

My Department also runs a number of smaller capital schemes such as the community enhancement programme, which provides small grants to enhance facilities in disadvantaged areas. Funding is allocated by my Department to each local authority area. Further details of the programme can be found on my Department's website.

Other capital supports available from my Department, such as the LEADER programme and rural regeneration and development fund, have more rural areas as their focus. The urban regeneration fund, covering areas with larger populations, is available within the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, further details of which are available from that Department.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Some of this is about being forward looking. Whatever discussions were held, we must take into account how much the area is going to grow. Many people coming into the area will be new to it. They will not necessarily be familiar with the community and, obviously, this is an established community.

All in all, the city council and the Department need to be proactive here. Building 2,000 houses means a lot of people going into the community. There is a need for community infrastructure. Community centres and resource centres can be transformative for an area. The Glen Resource Centre is an excellent example of that. This community centre has brought a huge benefit to the local community. Academic research into community centres shows they can have positive impacts on communities' health and well-being while also building more sustainable, stable communities.

Will the Minister of State consider meeting with the city council to consider this and other communities that need local community centres and examine how they might be provided for localities, especially areas that are growing rapidly?

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy. I think it is fair to say there is a planning function here as well. If a local authority is granting permission for large swathes of housing, it needs to plan for a community centre in that area as well. That is not happening everywhere. The question of whether we will actually support the local authority to do that comes up occasionally in this House, even if the local authority does not have a plan. Local authorities need to have a plan. We have some funds that can support such plans to build an actual building. We do not have a fund to support a building from scratch as well. To give a little bit more detail on the community centres fund, €15 million will be available to community groups. Funding will be available under three strands with grants of between €10,000 and €300,000. Further details on the application process and opening dates will be available quite shortly as well. There is little point in me meeting unless the local authority has a plan actually to build the centre.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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While that will be useful, there is a general proposal but there is very little meat on the bones of it. There is a proposed SHD for Lahardane but there are no details. There needs to be an opportunity for community input. It is proposed that there will be a community centre. The local community needs the opportunity to give input and there is no timeline.

Deputy Gould has raised this repeatedly, as has our local representative, Ms Mandy O'Leary-Hegarty, and Councillor Mick Nugent. If the Minister of State is in a position to meet with the city council on this, and indeed any of the other issues the council wishes to raise in terms of community infrastructure, that would be welcome.

I will also take the opportunity, because it applies to similar funding streams in terms of community facilities, to raise once again the issue of the need for a new premises for the Barrack Street Band, an issue on which we have been in contact.

As I said, this is a rapidly growing area with 2,000 people coming into it. There is a need for community infrastructure. If the Minister of State is in a position to meet with the council and the local community, it would be very valuable to try to progress the plan. There is a general sentiment from the council that it wants to progress a community centre but there is no detail in the strategic housing development plan.

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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Deputy Colm Burke wishes to come in on this as well.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I agree with my colleague. I served as chairperson of Blackpool Community Centre, which takes in Ballyvolane, which forms part of the parish of Blackpool. More than 20 years ago, when there were more than 1,150 houses in Ballyvolane, there was an application for planning permission for a community centre which, unfortunately, never got through. We started off with more than 1,150 houses without a community facility and we are now building a huge number of additional houses, which I think will start off with one planning application having already gone through for more than 750 new houses. A second one has gone through for more than 250 houses. That is more than 1,000 new houses, and yet no specific project has been put in place for the development of a community facility in an area that will have more than 2,500 houses. It is very important there would be engagement with the local authority but also that a message is sent to the local authority about the priority of having appropriate community facilities in place. It is important in relation to the Glen facility, for instance, which my colleague raised. In fact, most of the money for that project came from the European level, not from Government level. Let us not, therefore, wait around for Europe to come forward with money for this one.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputies. I think Deputy Gould will appreciate this as well. I visited his area last year. The residents of Fairhill also have a need in this regard. We can be supporters; we cannot be first movers in this situation. This is primarily a competency for the local authority, which, if it moves forward and has a plan, we are happy to support through the various funds we have available.

I would also mention the community activities fund, under which Cork City Council was allocated €307,000 last year. That was a fund to support community and voluntary funds affected by Covid-19 but it also supported its community centres' running costs, insurance bills and utilities as well as improvements to facilities. It can provide the funds necessary for repairs and the purchasing of equipment as well. I absolutely take the Deputy's points, however. We are happy to meet at a support level but not as a first mover on this.