Results 3,561-3,580 of 15,805 for speaker:Michael Ring

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tidy Towns Committees Funding (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: For the past two years, since I took up office, I have made funding available to every Tidy Towns group in the country. It is something at which I could and might look as no other group is more worthy of it, but it is all about the finances. I was able to allocate the money from savings in the Department. Perhaps I might look at having something on a more permanent basis. In the rules and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tidy Towns Committees Funding (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: It is something at which I will look. Like the Deputy, I have a lot time for Tidy Towns groups. Perhaps I might look at the community enhancement programme and ring-fence money for them. It is something at which I will look because they are worthy of support. As I move across the country to visit every town and village, I see certain projects which people tell me were carried out with the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Isolation (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: Addressing the issue of isolation in rural and urban areas requires a combination of policy initiatives and actions to improve both economic development and to address gaps in meeting social needs in these areas. Many of the initiatives form part of the Government’s published Action Plan for Rural Development and framework policy for local and community development which include a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Isolation (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: The Deputy is correct. It is why some of the schemes in my Department such as the seniors alert scheme have worked very well. In 2018 we spent €6.984 million in supporting 19,000 new participants. There is a new initiative which I will introduce and for which I would like to receive the Deputy's support and that of everybody else in the House. It is the national community weekend...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: I reassure the Deputy that all Departments, Ministers and the Government as a whole are working on the Brexit proposals. We published a plan on 19 December. The Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation and the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, have a fund to help small businesses prepare for Brexit. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has such plans, as does every other...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: We still all are hoping that we will have a deal.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: To be honest, I could point out a few small matters to the Deputy. He and his party would be a great help to us if they took up their place in Northern Ireland and their seats in the House of Commons. We would then have somebody to represent the nationalist view both in the North and in England.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: All I can say to the Deputy is his party is not afraid to take the Queen's shilling. They took the expenses but they will not go in to represent us. We need you now more than ever but you will not go in to represent us.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disadvantaged Areas Scheme (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: The community enhancement programme, which I launched in 2018, provided €13 million to community groups to enhance facilities in their areas. The new programme does not ring-fence funding for specific locations. Instead funding is allocated to each local authority area, taking into account the relative deprivation levels. Local community development committees, LCDCs, administer the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disadvantaged Areas Scheme (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: I disagree with the Deputy because if one takes the north inner city of Dublin, in 2017 we gave €2.5 million, in 2018 we gave €3.5 million and in 2019, it will receive €6.5 million. This funding is targeted to the greatest disadvantage. On the RAPID programme referred to by the Deputy, the value-for-money report that was produced on it specifically stated it was not...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disadvantaged Areas Scheme (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: The Deputy is not saying anything different to what I have said myself. The Dublin inner city received was allocated €6.5 million this year. Last year's funding for South Dublin County Council was €737,700, which provided for 120 projects that have been approved to date. These projects were ring-fenced. I also gave funding to the Men's Shed programme and ring-fenced...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Town and Village Renewal Scheme (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: I thank the Deputy, and I really mean that, for his support because he is correct and this is something I have been saying within the Department. Of course, civil servants do not like to give out to other civil servants and they will protect one another whenever they have to, but local authorities have not had themselves in glory. Every week, I read cuttings from local papers all over the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: My Department has been undertaking appropriate planning for various Brexit scenarios, including a no-deal Brexit. As is the case for all Departments, this planning has fed into the cross-Government preparations being led by my colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney. Planning by Government and at the EU level, for all possible outcomes, has been ramped up and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: I can only speak for my Department, but as a member of the Government and Cabinet, I can say that preparations are taking place on a daily basis. The answer to the Deputy's question is that there is flexibility in my Department and there will be more flexibility. When the time comes and if there is a no-deal Brexit, which puts certain communities and areas in bigger difficulties than...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Town and Village Renewal Scheme (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: The town and village renewal scheme forms an important part of the Action Plan for Rural Development and has the potential to stimulate economic recovery and job creation in towns and villages across rural Ireland. The scheme is specifically focused on rural towns and villages with a population of less than 10,000. The town and village renewal scheme was introduced in the second half of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Town and Village Renewal Scheme (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: A total of €13.854 million has been drawn down to date. To be fair to the local authorities, the schemes were always intended to be run over a 15-month period. We allocated the funding in October and expect it to be spent this year. It is a rolling scheme and that is the way it will operate, regardless of who will have this job in the future. That is the way it has to be because...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community Services Programme (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: The Community Services Programme, or CSP, supports around 420 community organisations to provide local services through a social enterprise model, with funding provided as a contribution to the cost of a manager and an agreed number of full-time equivalent positions. More than €46 million is available to support community organisations under the programme in 2019. The CSP...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 and 28 together. My Department has provided funding through a number of programmes to County Donegal and to the Donegal Gaeltacht. Under Project Ireland 2040, the Government committed €1 billion to the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF) over a 10 year period to support rural economic development and to help build strong communities. The...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Recreation Policy (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: Actions to maximise Ireland’s rural tourism and recreation potential are implemented across a number of Government Departments and agencies, including Fáilte Ireland, Local Authorities, Waterways Ireland and Coillte. My Department works closely with these organisations and delivers a number of funding initiatives in its own right that support the development of rural...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Local Improvement Scheme Data (23 Jan 2019)

Michael Ring: The Local Improvement Scheme, or LIS, is a programme for improvement works on small private or non-public roads in rural areas. The scheme is funded by my Department and is administered through the Local Authorities. As the Deputy may be aware, there was no dedicated funding for this scheme for a number of years due to constraints on public expenditure. However, I was very conscious of the...