Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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7. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development when the CLÁR areas will be extended; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62767/22]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The CLÁR programme was established in 2001 and at that time, the areas were identified on the basis of areas that had suffered due to population decline. To my knowledge, there was only one extension to the original CLÁR programme, which occurred in 2006 and was based on the 2002 census. The Minister will be aware from my correspondence with the Department and parliamentary questions I have tabled that I have been calling for an extension to the programme. At what stage is the consultation process at in relation to a possible extension to this very important programme, particularly for small rural communities?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The CLÁR programme provides funding for small-scale projects in designated rural areas that have experienced significant levels of depopulation over a defined period. Since the programme was relaunched in 2016, it has supported a wide range of measures.

The CLÁR 2022 programme was launched in February this year and I am delighted to say that the overall amount awarded under all measures of the 2022 programme was a record €12.2 million with 292 projects being supported. A review of CLÁR areas nationally was undertaken in 2021 using the 2016 census of population data. The review examined the most recent changes in population patterns throughout the country on the basis of the 2016 data. It also examined the approach to developing the existing CLÁR designations, which is based on 2002 data, and considered how changes in population since then impacted on designations.

It is clear from the review that many areas have seen population growth in the relevant period rather than decline and, indeed, the most recent census data published by the Central Statistics Office point to population growth across all counties since 2016. The details of the review are being considered by my Department before any decisions are made on areas that are designated as eligible for CLÁR.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I hope the review process can be expedited. I know from speaking to my colleague, Deputy Ó Cuív, the architect of the original CLÁR programme, that population decline was the main measurement in identifying areas at that time. It was always his opinion, and that of others involved in drafting the programme, that as the programme developed and brought investment to areas, other criteria should also be factored into the assessment of areas under consideration for inclusion.

The Minister will be aware that, thankfully, there has been population growth in our constituency, particularly in County Cavan, continuously since the early 1990s, and in Monaghan. There has also been great growth in employment as well as population. We suffered a decline in our population for far too many decades and, thankfully, we now have the reverse.

Along with population growth, there are also additional pressures on local amenities and social infrastructure. Both the Minister and I have received representation from different communities and are aware that where a school, such as a small rural primary school, has developed and the population has grown, there in an increase in demand for services. Such schools cannot avail of assistance towards the development of a playground etc. In areas where there has been a welcome growth in population, there should still be other criteria attached to the assessment of areas under consideration for inclusion in CLÁR.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy and I both know the benefits of CLÁR funding well. The Deputy has been on to me about different projects. Kilnaleck recently received €50,000 for the upgrade of the playground and St. Anne's National School's parents' association got €45,000 to build a multi-use games area, MUGA. Lavey Community Group got €50,000 to provide wheelchair access. The Brackley Lake Geopark Amenity Area, with which the Deputy will be extremely familiar, received €50,000, and Ballymachugh GAA and Sheelin Park, another community the Deputy will know, got €23,000 for an astro turf carpark.

The grants are small, as the Deputy and I are aware, but they are very important to these communities. The grants are simple enough to get in that one applies to the local authority which assesses the application and sends it on to my Department for us to work on it. Cavan town, Clonervy, Moynehall and Ballyhaise are the only areas not included in CLÁR-----

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Go raibh maith agat.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I will come back to the Deputy.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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We have all been supportive of groups working very hard to draw down extra funding. We know when groups get public funding, it enables them to raise funding through their own fundraising initiatives. As well as being an important financial contribution, it is a great encouragement to groups. The Minister mentioned Clonervy which is the Castletara-Ballyhaise area. That is one area with a small enough population. It could not avail of assistance towards the development of a school playground. Thus, it is one of the areas I wish to see different criteria being brought in with regard to assessment of areas that may be included in the CLÁR programme in the future.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I am happy to take on board the Deputy's suggestions of other criteria we can look at for areas that are not included. We did a review and we found the population had actually increased, which is good to see, but it is also important to say there are other funding streams from my Department. The Deputy will be very familiar with the community centres investment fund and the good support communities are getting from it because only last week we made the announcement. Some €33 million has been invested in the upgrade and development of 270 community centres nationwide. I know the Deputy was very anxious a number of those community centres be supported. I was glad we were in a position to support a number of the centres the Deputy had mentioned. We continue to keep all of these things under review.