Results 18,121-18,140 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Island Communities (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Deputy will agree that I have taken a keen interest in the islands. I have taken the trouble - I know Deputy Ó Cuív is a regular visitor to them himself - and have been on Bere Island, I have been on Aranmore twice this year already and one of the visits was to open a wonderful new seafront facility for the islanders there with huge investment under the rural regeneration fund...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Island Communities (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Sorry, Inis Meáin. Inis Óirr is the first one I was on, and Inis Meáin was the second. This pier was repaired many years ago. The Deputy knows more about it than I do. It does not work so now it is about how we can make it better. It is complex. Significant consultation has been undertaken with island communities. There has been wide consultation with the Departments and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Schemes (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The local improvement scheme, LIS, supports the improvement of rural roads and lane-ways that are not normally maintained by local authorities. Rural connectivity is an important element of Our Rural Future. Such roads represent a vital piece of infrastructure for rural residents providing access to people's homes and farms as well as outdoor amenities such as lakes, rivers and beaches....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Schemes (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I have been doing my best on this. I gave €22 million this year in local improvement scheme funding, which I believe is the highest amount that has ever been given. I doubled it last year also. There are many competing demands in my Department. There are other schemes and with each scheme, one may want to know why funding is not forthcoming, whether it is town and village renewal...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Schemes (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My apologies to Deputy Ó Cuív as I did not answer him because I ran out of time. I will ask every county council. My officials are engaging with the local authorities and I will find out how many such applications are outstanding and what the story is. Believe you me, one gets a great deal of varied information from the different local authorities because they have different ways...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Island Communities (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I thank Deputy Ó Cathasaigh. The Government's ambition for a national policy and action plan for the islands was set out in the programme for Government and included in chapter 10 of Our Rural Future: Rural Development Policy 2021-2025, an action plan for rural development, published in 2021. Indeed, the process commenced in December 2019, when a consultation paper was prepared with...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Island Communities (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy. Indeed, I was on Bere Island last year and I managed to dial in remotely to attend a Cabinet meeting from there. I have to say that the hospitality I received was second to none. It is a lovely island. I met a representative of the island when I was at the annual general meeting, AGM, of Comhdháil Oileáin na hÉireann on Árainn Mhór only two...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Island Communities (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I fully understand how sometimes people are very isolated but I think there is an opportunity on islands, the same way as there is in rural Ireland, to embrace new technology. There is a really exciting project taking place on Clare Island, where they are looking at e-health and at how they can use new technology to enhance living on the islands. It is not easy. I have been there in the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Derelict Sites (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The challenges relating to vacancy and dereliction are clearly recognised within Our Rural Future. Earlier this year, the Government published Town Centre First - A Policy Approach for Irish Towns. This is a whole-of-government policy and aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres. The policy is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Derelict Sites (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I agree with the Deputy that it is much better to repurpose, refurbish and reuse the town centre buildings. Let us face it, the power is connected, the water is connected and it is also connected to the sewerage, so we do not have all of those added costs that apply when a build is started outside the town. We have been working very hard with local authorities. Revitalising rural towns and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Derelict Sites (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Deputy is right. There are buildings that are lying vacant for years and we are all wondering why something cannot be done about them. As the Deputy and I well know, CPO is a complicated process as it stands. If a project misses one stage on the ladder, it goes back to the start, and that slows it down and delays it. The Town Centre First policy framework does contain a range of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Community Development Projects (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My Department currently provides a number of funding streams that can be used for the improvement and development of community centres throughout the country. Under the 2022 town and village renewal scheme, where there is a clearly identified and defined need in a town or village that cannot be met by an existing premises, I have included a provision for funding for new-build community...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Community Development Projects (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: There are many community centres around the country, which is why we opened this scheme to refurbish existing facilities. There is no doubt that some of them need a good bit of work. During the Covid period, they were not able to fundraise and carry out the type of annual work they do. We now have this fund in place and it is very popular. We got more than 1,000 applications, which, when...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Community Development Projects (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I still have to announce the successful applications under the CCIF. The applications are being assessed and there is a lot of work in it. We are going to do it in three phases, with the smaller applications first, the results of which I hope to announce in October. That is the plan. They are all being processed and assessed independently and we hope to have the first announcements in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Offshore Islands (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: As is the case with the current LEADER programme, the subregional areas for the new programme will correspond with county boundaries. This alignment will help to ensure coherence of LEADER funding with other initiatives and policies delivered on a county basis, thus helping to deliver the best impact and value for money under LEADER. The county structure also allows for the most efficient...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Schemes (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Our Rural Future is the most ambitious and transformational policy for rural development in Ireland for decades. The policy contains more than 150 measures for delivery across the whole of Government, with the underlying theme of economic, environmental and societal sustainability. The policy commits to developing an effective rural proofing model within the lifetime of the policy. This...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Schemes (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Town Centre First Policy is a major cross-government policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres, making them a better place to live, work and visit. The policy is an important deliverable under Our Rural Future, the Government's Rural Development Policy for the period to 2025. A key step in delivering the Town Centre First Policy is...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Schemes (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The new CAP Strategic Plan, which includes the LEADER programme, was recently approved by the EU Commission. The details of the delivery model for the new LEADER programme are based on extensive consultation with stakeholders in relation to all aspects of the programme including the LAG structure. The process of selecting a LEADER group for the new programme will be open, transparent...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Sports Funding (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The funding of sports clubs in the first instance is a matter for the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Through the Dormant Account Fund, which my Department manages across government departments, €12 million has been provided to the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in 2022 for various sporting measures. My...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Flexible Work Practices (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Our Rural Futureclearly recognises the transformative role that remote working can have on rural communities. In the context of quality of life indicators, carbon reduction and sustainable regional economies, remote working has much to offer. The National Hub Network interdepartmental group, chaired by the Secretary General of my Department, was established in 2020. The working group...