Results 11,301-11,320 of 15,805 for speaker:Michael Ring

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Legislative Programme (17 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: My Department has not enacted or published any legislation since the date the Department was established, on 19 July 2017.

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Library Services (17 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: Under the Local Government Act 2001, each local authority Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of their local authority.  Accordingly, it is a matter for each Chief Executive to recruit and assign staff to the library service. That said, I understand that...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community First Responders Network (17 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: I can confirm that my Department currently provides funding for a number of programmes which are relevant to the matter raised.  Firstly, CLÁR (Ceantair Laga Árd-Riachtanais) is a targeted investment programme for rural areas that aims to provide funding for small infrastructural projects and other initiatives in areas that have experienced significant levels of population...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Leader Programmes Expenditure (17 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1354 and 1355 together. LEADER is a multi-annual EU co-funded programme to support rural development.  Ireland has an allocation of €250 million under the programme over the period 2014-2020, including both national and EU funding.  The programme is administered by Local Action Groups (LAGs) who deliver funding in accordance with Local...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: CLÁR Programme (17 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: The CLÁR programme was originally launched in October 2001 to provide for targeted investment in disadvantaged rural areas. The areas originally selected for inclusion in the programme were those which suffered the greatest population decline from 1926 to 1996, with the exception of the Cooley Peninsula which was included on the basis of the serious difficulties caused in that area by...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: CLÁR Programme (17 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: The attached table provides a breakdown of: - the 2006 population in CLÁR areas by county, based on the 2006 Census data as provided in an analysis carried out by NIRSA (National Institute for Regional Spatial Analysis), and - the allocations and disbursements by county under CLÁR in 2016 and 2017. The Deputy will note that Counties Dublin, Kildare and Wexford had no...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Action Plan for Rural Development Implementation (17 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: The Action Plan for Rural Development contains over 270 measures for delivery across a range of Government Departments, State agencies and other organisations, to support the economic and social development of rural Ireland. Progress updates on each of these actions were collated from the various implementing bodies at the start of this year for inclusion in the Second Progress Report on...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Recreational Facilities (17 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: As the Deputy is aware, an independent review of Comhairle na Tuaithe and the Countryside Recreation Strategy was carried out in 2016 to assess, inter alia, the current appropriateness and effectiveness of the body in an evolving outdoor recreation sector. I met with the members of Comhairle na Tuaithe on 13th February last to hear directly from them their views on the...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Recreational Facilities (17 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: Table 1 below provides details of the dates of meetings of Comhairle na Tuaithe which were held since March 2011. I can confirm that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government attended the meeting of Comhairle on 9thDecember 2013. I attended the meeting of the Comhairle members on 13thFebruary this year. As the Deputy is aware, my Department currently provides the Chair...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Leader Programmes Funding (17 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: LEADER is a multi-annual EU co-funded programme to support rural development.  Ireland has an allocation of €250 million under the programme over the period 2014-2020, including both national and EU funding.  The programme is administered by Local Action Groups (LAGs) which deliver funding in accordance with Local Development Strategies that have been agreed for each LAG...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community Banking (17 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: The Programme for a Partnership Government includes a commitment to investigate a new model of community banking for Ireland, including an investigation of the German Sparkassen model for the development of local public banks that operate within well-defined regions. A project team comprising officials from my Department and the Department of Finance was established last year to progress...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Recreational Facilities (17 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: Comhairle Na Tuaithe (The Countryside Council) was established in February 2004 as a non-statutory body with a primary focus on the priority areas of: - access to the countryside, - developing a countryside code, and - developing a countryside recreation strategy. I understand that under a Comhairle na Tuaithe initiative, in 2011, a Mountain Access Scheme to facilitate...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Town and Village Renewal Scheme (17 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1364 and 1365 together. A pilot scheme to encourage residential occupancy in rural towns and villages is currently being developed as part of the Town and Village Renewal Scheme which is administered by my Department. The pilot will consider ways in which properties that are currently not in use in town centres can be renovated to allow them to be used...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Expenditure (17 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1366 and 1367 together. The Revised Estimates in respect of the Department of Rural and Community Development sets out gross capital expenditure of €87.5m and current expenditure of €144m in respect of my Department for 2018. The capital expenditure is supplemented by some €7.7m in respect of capital carried forward from 2017. The...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: CLÁR Programme (17 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: The CLÁR programme provides funding for small scale infrastructural projects in disadvantaged rural areas that have experienced significant levels of de-population. The 2018 CLÁR programme was launched on 15thMarch 2018 with an indicative allocation of €5 million for this year. The scheme will provide funding under the following measures: Measure 1: Support...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Staff (17 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: There are two currently temporary Clerical Officers employed in my Department. Both of these employees are employed are on a contract of six months duration to carry out a specific role for the six month period. They will not be offered permanent positions and the contracts will not be renewed or extended when they expire.

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community Services Programme (17 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: The Community Services Programme (CSP) supports community organisations to provide local services through a social enterprise model. Some 400 organisations are supported under the CSP, with funding provided as a contribution to the cost of a manager and an agreed number of full-time equivalent positions.  The organisation in question submitted a business plan to Pobal...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community Banking (18 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: The Programme for a Partnership Government includes a commitment to investigate a new model of community banking for Ireland, including an investigation of the German Sparkassen model for the development of local public banks that operate within well-defined regions. A project team comprising officials from my Department and the Department of Finance was established last year to progress...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Library Services Funding (19 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: I propose to take Questions Nos. 325 and 326 together. The delivery of public library services is generally a matter for each local authority in its capacity as a library authority under the Local Government Act 2001. Accordingly, funding for the management and development of library services in Galway City and Galway County is primarily a matter for those local authorities. Details of the...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (19 Apr 2018)

Michael Ring: Funding may be available through my Department’s Town and Village Renewal Scheme and the LEADER Programme to voluntary or community groups who wish to establish a community or sports hall in their area. The Town and Village Renewal Scheme was launched in 2016, with funding of €10 million allocated for that year. An enhanced Town and Village Renewal scheme was announced in...