Results 13,621-13,640 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Digital Hubs (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Broadband Connection Point (BCP) initiative is a key part of the National Broadband Plan and Our Rural Future. It is now in the latter stages of delivery and as of 6 July, 203 BCPs are live and in use, with the remaining sites in the process of being surveyed, installed or tested. To date, 16 BCPs have been delivered in County Cork with a further 8 sites to be delivered over the...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Schemes (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Walks Scheme, which is funded by my Department, contracts landholders to undertake maintenance work on National Waymarked Ways and other priority trails that traverse their lands. The landholders receive modest payments for maintenance work undertaken in line with agreed work plans. My Department commissioned an external review of the Walks Scheme to examine the delivery and...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Island Communities (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The construction of a new helipad referred to by the Deputy is a project being undertaken by Mayo County Council, with financial assistance from my Department. My Department provided funding for the purchase of land for this project in late 2020. I have been informed that Mayo County Council are working to finalise a detailed design and to prepare tender documents for the helipad's...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community Development Projects (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: My Department is progressing a number of national policies that provide, for both urban and rural areas nationwide, an integrated and strategic way of delivering supports, programmes and schemes, coordinating measures to address imbalances or lack of opportunity, making a real difference to people’s lives. These include the National Policy on Social Enterprise, and the Strategy to...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Island Communities (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The development of a new Islands Policy is one of the key elements of Our Rural Future, the Government’s new Rural Development Policy. The central objective of the Islands Policy will be to ensure that sustainable vibrant communities continue to live on the offshore islands. An island consultation process was undertaken by my Department to inform the policy and to ensure that the...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Schemes (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: Our Rural Future, the Rural Development Policy for 2021-2025, is the most ambitious and transformational policy for rural development in Ireland for decades, focusing on sustainability and optimising opportunities for individuals, communities and businesses. It is a whole-of-Government approach to rural development which contains more than 150 measures for delivery by a wide range of...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Youth Emigration (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: My Department published Our Rural Future, a new five-year rural development policy, in March this year. It is the most ambitious and transformational policy for rural development in Ireland for decades. The policy has a vision for a sustainable and vibrant rural Ireland, one in which communities, including young people, are empowered to take an active role in the decisions affecting them....

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Policies (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: Our Rural Future represents the Irish Government’s blueprint for the development of rural Ireland over the next five years. It provides the framework to achieve the vision of transforming the quality of life and opportunity for people living in rural areas. As the Deputy is aware, Our Rural Future contains a number of policy measures relating to the islands including the establishment...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 113 and 117 together. The Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF) forms part of the wider rural regeneration and development programme which also includes the Town and Village Renewal Scheme and the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme. In terms of RRDF Category 1 (Major Projects), three calls for applications have been completed to date,...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Harbours and Piers (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy will be aware, Galway County Council are the body responsible for development of stage three of the Caladh Mór pier development on Inis Meáin. Officials from my Department have been in ongoing contact with the relevant officials in the County Council to progress matters. The National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI) have been developing a model simulation...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Schemes (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Walks Scheme, which is funded by my Department, contracts landholders to undertake maintenance work on National Waymarked Ways and other priority trails that traverse their lands. The landholders receive modest payments for maintenance work undertaken in line with agreed work plans. My Department commissioned an external review of the Walks Scheme to examine the delivery and...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Island Communities (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The recently published rural policy ‘Our Rural Future’ underlines this Government’s continued commitment to our offshore island communities. It is a core part of the policy to support those communities by funding programmes that deliver transport services that are affordable, reliable and of a high quality and, by doing so, to maintain sustainable vibrant communities on...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: National Broadband Plan (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The increased shift to remote working as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has given us the opportunity for a greater regional distribution of jobs and to support a better quality of life for many people who previously spent many hours in long commutes. This is a key focus of the Government's new rural development policy Our Rural Future. Remote working, supported by appropriate...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community Development Projects (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy is aware, the negotiations on the CAP regulations were provisionally agreed at the Council of Ministers Meeting on 28/29 June. Technical discussions to finalise the legal text will take place under the Slovenian Presidency. The Programme for Government contains a number of commitments in relation to the LEADER Programme, including a commitment to promote the role of...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Schemes (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: There are a range of initiatives outlined in Our Rural Future which will contribute to addressing vacancy in our towns and villages. The refurbishment of vacant properties is already being addressed by a number of funding streams delivered by my Department, including the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund and the Town & Village Renewal Scheme. Our Rural Future includes a...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Schemes (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 121 and 133 together. The Walks Scheme, which is funded by my Department, contracts landholders to undertake maintenance work on National Waymarked Ways and other priority trails that traverse their lands. The landholders receive modest payments for maintenance work undertaken in line with agreed work plans. My Department commissioned an external...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Digital Hubs (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The increased shift to remote working as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has given us the opportunity for a greater regional distribution of jobs and to support a better quality of life for many people who previously spent many hours in long commutes. This is a key focus of the Government's new rural development policy Our Rural Future. Remote working, supported by appropriate...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The LEADER programme is co-financed by the European Commission under Pillar 2 of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), through the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). In December 2020, I launched the Transitional LEADER Programme which came into effect from 1 April 2021 and will run to the end of 2022. A total of €70 million is being made available over this...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Policies (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: Our Rural Future is the most ambitious and transformational policy for rural development in Ireland for decades. The policy contains 152 measures for delivery, developed across the whole of Government, with the underlying theme of economic, environmental and societal sustainability. The policy has a vision of vibrant and thriving rural towns and villages, with a key objective to maximise...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Schemes (15 Jul 2021)

Heather Humphreys: My Department administers the Walks Scheme through which landholders receive modest payments for maintenance works on approved walking trails that traverse their land. The payment is linked to an agreed work plan for the section of the trail maintained by the landholder. The Walks Scheme is currently operating on 45 trails supported by 2,040 landholders and is being managed by 16 Local...