Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

Cúis áthais dom an deis seo a fháil chun an Bille um Ghnóthaí Pobail, Tuaithe agus Gaeltachta (Forálacha Ilghnéitheacha) 2007 a chur i bhur láthair. Is é bunchuspóir an Bhille ná bonn comhtháite reachtúil a chinntiú don raon leathan feidhmeanna agus dualgas a thagann faoi mo choimirce mar Aire Gnóthaí Pobail, Tuaithe agus Gaeltachta. Dá réir sin, féachann an Bille le mandáid reachtúil níos soiléire a dhaingniú do na feidhmeanna uile a aistríodh ar bhonn ionstraimí reachtúla nó orduithe aistriú feidhmeanna, mar aon leis na cláracha nua a tionscnaíodh ó bunaíodh mo Roinnse i Meitheamh 2002.

I am pleased to have this opportunity to present the Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007 for the consideration of the House and to outline its main provisions. I thank Members for agreeing to take all Stages of the Bill today. This Bill is a very short one, with a total of nine sections, and Members will note that many of the provisions reflected in the Bill are primarily of a technical nature.

The main purpose of the Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007 is to confirm and secure an integrated statutory basis for the broad range of functions and responsibilities of the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. Essentially, this Bill aims to secure a more coherent statutory mandate for functions previously transferred to the Minister by way of statutory instrument-transfer of functions orders, along with new programmes introduced since the establishment of my Department in June 2002.

This statutory mandate, if established, can provide a firmer basis from which any or all of these functions can operate, or transfer to such Departments as a future Government may determine. In addition to this, a number of technical amendments to existing legislation are proposed in this Bill. Key aspects and objectives of the Bill, including the technical amendments to existing legislation, are to confirm the powers, functions and responsibilities of the Minister; to provide for the inclusion, in the Third Schedule in the Freedom of Information Act 1997, of section 18 of the Western Development Commission Act 1998; to amend section 8(5) of the Western Development Commission Act 1998, raising to €1 million the limit of financial or other material aid to enterprises or projects, which the WDC can provide without the consent of the Minister; to amend section 2(4) of the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (Powers and Functions) Act 2003 in respect of transport services for islands students and sections 3(1)(b) and 3(1)(c) of that Act in respect of clarifying the Minister's remit in respect of specified functions in respect of new aerodromes and ancillary facilities connected with the provision of air services between the islands and the mainland; and to repeal the Arramara Teoranta (Acquisition of Shares) Acts 1949 to 2002.

The main purpose of this is to confirm and to secure an integrated statutory basis for the broad range of functions and responsibilities coming within the remit of the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. Provisions in this regard are reflected in section 2 which sets out a range of functions that are, and are deemed always to have been functions of the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. Members will note that the range of functions outlined includes, community development; voluntary activity and philanthropy; rural development; co-ordination of the national drugs strategy; the Irish language, including the co-ordination of policy in this regard; the development of the Gaeltacht and the islands; and North-South co-operation within the ambit of these functions, including matters in relation to Ulster Scots heritage, culture and language.

This provision is without prejudice to the generality of any other provision of this Act or of any other enactment conferring functions on the Minister. In other words, the provision in this Bill does not affect any other existing statutory provisions in relation to the functions of the Minister. In addition, the Bill provides for powers to develop, implement, maintain, expand or terminate any scheme that, in the Minister's opinion, supports or promotes the functions set out in the Bill.

It should be noted that, while providing a coherent statutory basis for the functions, powers and responsibilities of the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, section 2 does not seek to limit or assume in any way the powers, functions and responsibilities of other Ministers or State agencies or bodies.

As Members will be aware, I have responsibility for the area of rural development and one of the bodies falling within the ambit of my Department is the Western Development Commission, otherwise known as the WDC. This commission was established under the Western Development Commission Act 1998 to promote the economic and social development of the western region. This Act requires that direct assistance provided by the commission shall be in the form of the purchase of shares in share capital and the provision of loans, but excluding grant aid. The WDC is unique among State agencies in that it provides such venture capital by means of its own investment vehicle, the western investment fund.

Section 8(5) of the WDC Act provides that, "Financial or other material aid provided to enterprises or projects by the Commission shall be in such form and subject to such terms and conditions as may be determined from time to time, at such times as may be specified by the Minister, by the commission with the consent of the Minister, with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance and the amount thereof, in the case of any particular enterprise or project, shall not exceed £250,000 or €317,434, without the consent in writing of the Minister". This Bill provides in section 4 for the raising to €1 million of the limit for financial or other material aid to enterprises or projects, which the WDC can provide without seeking the formal consent of the Minister. The figure of £250,000, which was provided for in the 1998 legislation, was set down at a time when fewer projects were being approved for funding by the WDC. Given inflation and the increasing number of projects being funded by the WDC that now exceed the £250,000 value, it is my view that the proposed new limit will provide for a more efficient and streamlined project approval process.

It is time we got rid of all these odd figures relating to punt figures and changed to more friendly euro figures.