Results 9,421-9,440 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

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: 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: 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: The eligibility criteria with regard to at least two separate landowners being engaged in agricultural or harvesting activity remains a key component of eligibility for the scheme. My priority is to deal with the applications on hand in the local authorities based on the current criteria and to continue to support the rural farming community. Once this backlog of applications is addressed,...

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

Heather Humphreys: I have stated here on numerous occasions that it is up to Cork County Council and Cork City Council to come together and find a solution to this. The money has been allocated to the county. I would love to give every county more money for the LIS, but if I were to do so, I would be taking the money out of other schemes. I have to try to balance these budgets. The point is Cork County...

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

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy will be aware, the Government is committed to publishing a ten-year policy on island development, with associated three-year action plans. Indeed, the programme for Government includes a commitment in this regard and, as Minister with responsibility for the islands, I am determined to ensure the policy is delivered. I have received an initial working draft of the policy, which...

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

Heather Humphreys: I will have to go through the document as I have not yet read it, but I was at the AGM and the issues relating to the islands are clear to me. There is the need to attract young people back to the islands. Planning permission is a significant issue. The islanders are concerned they cannot get planning that would allow young people to return. I was given the example of a young man who was...

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

Heather Humphreys: Our Rural Future, Ireland's rural development policy, recognises the potential of remote working hubs as key economic assets for our regional towns and villages. Therefore, in May 2021, I launched the national hub network and its online platform, namely, connectedhubs.ie. The network brings together a. range of hubs catering for a wide variety of enterprise, community, remote and co-working...

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

Heather Humphreys: I know the Deputy is very familiar with the Creative Spark in Louth and The Mill in Drogheda. Those are two outstanding centres in terms of what they are doing there. I recall it was in The Mill in Drogheda that I launched the remote working app. I have been in both places this year. The connected hubs fund is there to support centres, whether they are private or publicly owned, to...

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

Heather Humphreys: I launched that voucher scheme earlier in the summer. It was designed to encourage those who have never used a hub to try it for free. It was like a sample or taster. A person could go in and use the hub for three days, free of charge. I was encouraging people to go in, try them out and see what they thought, because sitting at home is not a good idea. At least in a hub one can have a...

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

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I am well aware of local improvement schemes because there are many lanes where I live that have benefited as, indeed, I am sure the Deputy is aware of many in his area as well. As part of Our Rural Future, the Government is committed to ensuring that the local improvement scheme, LIS, is funded into the future. The LIS supports the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Schemes (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy. He is right that good applications have to come in. I cannot give them funding unless I get the applications. For those towns in Tipperary that have not got any funding, they should work with the local authority. The applications come in through the local authority, as the Deputy knows. If I do not get an application, there is no chance of getting funding. I see here...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Schemes (15 Sep 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy. I am sure there will be more cases like the one she has just outlined. The criteria were set as towns and villages with a population of over 400 people. First of all, this is a great scheme and I think everybody agrees with that. I am getting a lot of calls from Fine Gael Deputies in particular. Even last night at a meeting it was raised with me. I have been asked...