Results 3,681-3,700 of 15,805 for speaker:Michael Ring

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: The Deputy is quite correct. The great thing about this scheme is that any State agency or local authority working with community groups can make an application. There are a number of ways to get matching funding. Údarás, local authorities and other State agencies, including the Western Development Commission and LEADER companies, have come in. As Minister, the major complaint I...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: To be fair, it is one of the things I am looking at. The Deputy is correct. As with the town and village scheme or the outdoor recreation scheme, if one does not spend in advance, one will have a difficulty. Category 2 will provide seed funding for projects and I expect a lot of it will be drawn down quickly. Some of the schemes are shovel-ready. Those behind one €4 million...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: While I cannot commit to that, I can commit to ensuring that there will be a substantial spend. I have to see what projects are actually shovel-ready. My problem is that they must be ready to go. Category 2 will be an easier scheme because it is seed funding. People thought the scheme would not happen but it did and it is a good one. The Deputy should be happy that his constituency did...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Post Office Closures (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: I am sorry I have only a minute to reply. I wish I had more time because I have a list of all the post offices that Fianna Fáil closed.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Post Office Closures (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: I would be here for 25 minutes-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Post Office Closures (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: It is a pity-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Post Office Closures (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: I did not interrupt the Deputy. I let him talk. If his Government had been as concerned about post offices when this country was awash with money, and if it had given them the services they needed, we would not have any closure of post offices.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Post Office Closures (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: The Government did not close any post offices in the past few months.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Post Office Closures (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: The Deputy should listen. People took the packages. They were given the opportunity.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Post Office Closures (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: They got the packages. Let us be honest about what is happening and stop the nonsense about post offices.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Post Office Closures (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: I will give an example. There was a post office in my own county where 500 people turned up at a public meeting. I am going to tell the Deputy how many of them bought television licences. There were 352 families and just 52 television licences were bought in that post office for that year. Either one of two things happened. They either had no licences, which I do not believe-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Post Office Closures (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: -----or they went elsewhere to get their licences. If they want to keep rural post offices open, they will have to start using them, and not go to public meetings.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Post Office Closures (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: In fairness, a post office was advertised twice and they could not get anyone to take it.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Post Office Closures (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: The hypocrisy sickens me. Fianna Fáil closed many post offices and we closed very few.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Post Office Closures (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: The Deputy asked what I did. I provided €80,000 last year to examine where we can get more services for post offices. Let us take the example of motor tax. Nearly 88% of people now tax their cars online. We need to give post offices more services that people will use. People are living in the modern age. They have their computers and the Internet.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Post Office Closures (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: They want to do business in a different way. I want to keep as many post offices open as possible. However, I would say to the general public that if they want their post office and their small local shop open, and if they want services in rural Ireland, they have to start using them and they cannot pass the door every day. When that lady called the public meeting in Mayo, 300 or 400...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: I propose to take Questions Nos. 42, 45 and 51 together. The first call for applications for the rural regeneration and development fund closed at the end of September. Some €1 billion is committed to the fund over a ten-year period to support rural economic development and help build strong communities, with €55 million allocated to the fund in budget 2019. There was...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Town and Village Renewal Scheme (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: The town and village renewal scheme is a key part of the Government's Action Plan for Rural Development. The plan contains more than 270 actions for delivery by Departments, State agencies and other organisations to help rural Ireland achieve its full economic and social potential. The Government launched the town and village renewal scheme in 2016, with funding of €10 million to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Town and Village Renewal Scheme (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: I thank the Deputy for his comments. The town and village renewal scheme is probably one of the better schemes the Department administers. It is amazing what communities, towns and villages can do when they get a lift through a small allocation of funding. I was in Wicklow recently to visit a public realm project we had funded in the centre of the town. On foot of that, the HSE decided it...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Town and Village Renewal Scheme (11 Dec 2018)

Michael Ring: One of the worries people had about the €1 billion being allocated over ten years is that the existing departmental schemes would not continue. I assure Deputy Burke that the town and village renewal scheme, the CLÁR programme, the outdoor recreation scheme and all the other schemes will continue next year. I have funding in the Department's budget for all of them. Deputy Burke...