Results 13,041-13,060 of 15,805 for speaker:Michael Ring

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Action Plan for Rural Development Implementation (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: The CSO report was interesting but the Deputy and I could have written it. We both live in rural Ireland and know the distances people have to travel to access services. This is why we built 18 health centres. We did so to make it easier for people to access services. I read the CSO report the other day. The situation in rural England or rural Spain is no different from the situation...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Action Plan for Rural Development Implementation (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: I know I am stepping into another Minister's area but I do not mind doing so. The reason for greater demand on services is that more people are living in rural Ireland. It is not me saying that. The Deputy cited the CSO figures, which also tell us that more people are living and working in rural Ireland. People are moving back to rural Ireland. Of course, we will have to improve...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regional Development (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: The responsibility for energy policy matters falls within the remit of the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment. However, there is an all-of-Government response and commitment to ensuring a sustainable future for those communities that are impacted by the closure of the two power stations in the midlands. The delivery of a package of investment and supports for the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regional Development (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: I am glad that Kieran Mulvey has been appointed the just transition commissioner because that is a good move. I worked with him when he chaired a task force about inner city Dublin and he did a tremendous job. The Government went on to support the particular project that the task force came up with. My Department provides rural regeneration and development funding. We gave €1.2...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regional Development (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: I will send the Deputy the details on the Slieve Bloom project, which is exciting and which will create jobs in the region. Kieran Mulvey will be talking to all interest groups and I am glad that Bord na Móna and the ESB are ready to talk. Some funding will be put in place. Some €6 million was allocated in the budget for a just transition fund and the ESB has agreed to put...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Recreational Facilities (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: I thank the Deputy for raising the question. My Department provides funding for facilities such as playgrounds through capital grants for the provision of playground infrastructure, including multi-use games areas, MUGAs, through schemes such as the community enhancement programme and the CLÁR programme. I understand also that the Department of Children and Youth Affairs administers a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Recreational Facilities (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for asking the question. I will offer the only solution available to me. The community services programme in my Department supports 400 organisations nationally and provides funding for a manager and staff. We pay €32,000 for a manager and €19,000 for staff members. The Deputy could also contact the social inclusion and community activation...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Recreational Facilities (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: We also have the community enhancement programme under which we provided, on average, €120,000 to each local authority. That is discretionary and is done by the local community development committees and elected representatives. Perhaps funding from that could be used to fund the measure the Deputy seeks. Councils and councillors have to make decisions as well. We provide the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Community Development Projects Funding (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: I thank the Deputy for the question. My Department is committed to the successful delivery of a wide range of programmes and supports to benefit all communities. These supports include large-scale investments in rural regeneration and renewal of our towns and villages. Funding is also provided for rural development with small-scale grants and supports directed to help community and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Community Development Projects Funding (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: As somebody who has been very much involved in community all his life, the Deputy is a long time here and he understands it. In some of our schemes, there has to be a local contribution. Particularly if we are dealing with the local authorities, we expect them to put some kind of a contribution into the scheme. In relation to communities themselves, we have a number of schemes that do not...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Community Development Projects Funding (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: The Deputy has them in his constituency. Every Deputy here has them in his or her constituency. But for that voluntary sector, we would have a difficult situation in this country. They have to be complimented. I have to thank them. They do tremendous work. There are people who put their lives into voluntary schemes and put a lot of work into it and they do not get anything out of it....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Development Plan (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: The Action Plan for Rural Development has been the key vehicle for delivery of the Government’s support for rural development over the last three years. My Department is currently developing the next phase of rural policy for Ireland, to follow on from the action plan which reaches the end of its three year life cycle at the end of 2019. The new five-year policy will be...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Development Plan (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: On the plan, the Deputy is quite correct. This time we really went all out. We had 11 regional workshops, two special workshops with young people and a public online survey in which 1,700 people participated. We went into the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Rural and Community Development and it made a submission. There were submissions also received from rural-based organisations. The...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Development Plan (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: Of course.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Development Plan (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: Deputy Calleary is right. Where we bring them together, we do not want any splintering of the work that is being done. It is not a power struggle but to provide better services for rural areas, giving them the services and support that they need. As for transfers I was offered some from other Departments to be taken on as a priority but the budget did not come with them. I will not allow...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: CLÁR Programme (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: As the Deputy will be aware, I reopened the CLÁR programme in 2016, following a number of years when the scheme was closed for new applications. More than 1,400 projects have been approved for funding of almost €33 million under the programme since then. The type of projects that have been supported include safety measures around schools and community facilities, the provision...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: CLÁR Programme (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: I thank the Deputy for her comments. She is right. Under CLÁR I can target some of the schemes to where the need is. I found when I came into office that one of the needs was safety outside schools. Anyone who has children knows that when parents and others bring children to school, they want them to be in a safe environment. I considered that scheme and reintroduced it. It has...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: CLÁR Programme (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: This is a comment, not a promise. I want to sit down with people from the Departments of Education and Skills and Children and Youth Affairs to see whether we can formulate some kind of a scheme that would deal with the problem that the Deputy has. I know it. I see it in areas that genuinely need the safety scheme but have a problem because they are not in the CLÁR area.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Development Policy (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: I thank Deputy Aylward for his question. The CSO recently published a statistical report, Measuring Distance to Everyday Services in Ireland 2019, which shows how close people live to everyday facilities such as schools, hospitals, fire stations and public transport stops. The report shows that the average distance to most everyday services was at least three times longer for rural...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Development Policy (5 Dec 2019)

Michael Ring: Rural Ireland was never more alive than it is today. The Deputy is quoting one set of CSO figures but I will give him another. The CSO has found that more people are working and living in rural Ireland now than since the foundation of the State.