Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is earning his keep this morning. I thank him for coming to the House to provide clarification on a statement made in respect of a Commencement matter tabled by Senator Conway on 14 December last year.

Mr. Jim Connolly asked me to bring this issue to the attention of the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. Mr. Connolly is the founder and Chair of Rural Resettlement Ireland. To date, over 800 families have been resettled in rural areas. The project has been hailed as a major contributor to rural regeneration. As the Minister of State will know, Rural Resettlement Ireland is a registered housing body that provides free services to anyone who wishes to relocate. Rural Resettlement Ireland received core funding from the Department every year until it was cut in 2012. That move resulted in the final and very regrettable closure of the organisation this year.

During a Commencement debate last December, the Minister of State said:

[T]o guarantee that the rental properties supported by RRI are sustainably managed and maintained, fees for the management and maintenance of capital loan and subsidy scheme supported properties continue to be available to it, subject to compliance with the relevant terms and conditions. These fees, together with loan and interest charges, amounted to more than €696,000 over the past five years.

From my discussions with Mr. Connolly, and having had sight of the audited 2016 accounts for the charity, this is at best an inaccurate figure due to unclear accounting or, at worst, an outright misrepresentation of the facts. To place the matter in context, the 21 social houses referred to represent only 0.25% of the 800 families resettled since 1990. The Department's management grant paid to all voluntary housing bodies is €436 per house or €9,156 per year, which amounts to €45,780 for five years. This is a far cry from the €696,000 referred to during the Commencement debate last December. While it is true that amortisation, which is an accountancy term, of the Government grant appears in Rural Resettlement Ireland's accounts, it relates to the normal method of building 21 houses with non-repayable mortgages. This does not translate into ongoing cash support in any way and to imply that it does is wrong. The immediate clarification of this aspect is a matter of personal and public significance to Mr. Connolly, who is seriously aggrieved by the statements.

The rural resettlement initiative is one of the most successful voluntary initiatives ever undertaken in this country. The scheme has provided one-to-one relocated services for 800 families who have rejuvenated rural communities. It has give the families an exceptional qualify of life in communities of their choice through sustained co-operation with the Department, State agencies, family and local services. Rural Resettlement Ireland built up a wealth of experience, wisdom and knowledge that cannot easily be replaced. Since its State funding was cut in 2012, Rural Resettlement Ireland has still managed to assist almost 40 families to move to rural areas in private rented housing. The work has been done entirely on a voluntary basis. I find it incomprehensible that this project had its funding cut in 2012 and is now being wound up during one of the worst urban housing crises that this country has seen. Instead of cutting funding to a recognised housing body with a wealth of experience, one would have imagined that it would have been viewed as a viable solution.

Earlier this year, when speaking about the Government's Action Plan for Rural Development of 600 towns and villages, the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Heather Humphreys, said that people are needed to revitalise towns. In light of decreasing rural populations, initiatives that promote relocation should be encouraged. The Minister's grant aid for home purchase and renovation is laudable. However, we must remember that not everyone has the money to purchase his or her own home and, for many, long or medium-term rental is the optimum solution.

What Mr. Connolly and Rural Resettlement Ireland have achieved through relocation has been more enduring and successful than any Government policy. We need more , not less, of such inspirational commitment, which has been given over decades. Far from misrepresenting or discrediting the work of Rural Resettlement Ireland, however accidentally, we should applaud it and give it the due acknowledgement in respect of its indisputable success.

I ask the Minister of State to clarify the position regarding figure of €696,000 to which I refer. I also ask him to give serious consideration to the reinstatement of the grant aid to Rural Resettlement Ireland, which would allow us to harness the wealth of knowledge and experience that it has accumulated. I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to come to the House. I hope that he will answer my queries, particularly my call for the re-establishment of Rural Resettlement Ireland. We have been told that there are many houses available in rural Ireland, so all we need is to get Rural Resettlement Ireland and similar organisations up and running again.