Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I know where the Senator is getting his details from.

I want to congratulate Senator Marshall on his election and welcome him to the Seanad. I am delighted to see him here in Seanad Éireann. It is a great honour for him and his family. I wish him well and hope he has many happy days in this House.

He spoke particularly about Brexit, which is a big issue and is causing great concern. In the Action Plan for Rural Development there are a number of actions outlined to help small businesses. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, recently announced that some €300 million would be made available to support businesses and ensure they can cope with Brexit. The local enterprise offices, the Department of Finance and others Departments and State agencies are working very hard to try to make sure that our companies and businesses are ready for whatever Brexit brings. Enterprise Ireland is also working with companies, and the national development plan is focusing on investment in the north west. We have ongoing programmes, including the Leader programme, to that effect. I wish the Senator well on his appointment to the Seanad.

I thank Senator Dolan for his contribution. I certainly will come back to the Seanad again. My Department runs a number of schemes which deal with people with disabilities, including the CSB scheme and the dormant accounts scheme. The social inclusion and community activation, SICAP, programme also has a section which covers people with disabilities. I will come back at some stage again. It was not in my speech today because we were talking about rural development. The community programme deals with the issues the Senator raised. He made a very valid point and I will return to the Seanad at some stage to talk about community schemes, SICAP, the community activation programme, the revitalising areas by planning, investment and development, RAPID, programme and others. Some of those programmes were designed to deal specifically with disabilities. The Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Finian McGrath, has overall responsibility for people with disabilities, and he is doing a very good job and is fighting for the cause at the Cabinet table at every opportunity.

Donegal, Senator Mac Lochlainn's county, got €9.685 million under the Leader scheme. There are 14 projects waiting for approval in that county to the value of €856,000. Some 73 projects have been approved to the value of €2.596 million, representing 26% of available funding. It is one of the better counties in that respect, so I am very pleased. I am aware that an Independent Deputy, along with the Senator, recently spoke about funding for Donegal. It is important that we are fair and honest about what is going on.

An issue was raised about flooding in County Donegal. I do not have overall responsibility for that area, but the Members wrote to me about it, which is fair enough because they have a valid point. Some €1.475 million has been paid by the Leader programme in the last year. The town and village scheme has provided €1.159 million. I will be in Donegal in the near future, and I hope the Donegal Democrat, which is a very good, fair newspaper, will cover the facts. The CLÁR programme has provided €245,000. The outdoor recreational infrastructure scheme has provided €104,000. Donegal got one of the biggest allocations from the local improvement scheme last year, some €3.384 million, and I was asked to allow more time for that money to be spent, even though a commitment was given that it would be spent by the end of the year. The Tidy Towns scheme awarded €61,000. The national walks scheme awarded €140,000. A broadband officer was provided at a cost of €35,000. Volunteering schemes got €129,000. The local community development committee, LCDC, got €64,000. The library development unit got €126,000, and last week I allocated €1 million for a new library in Donegal town, in a joint scheme between my Department and the local authority. The SICAP programme got €1.974 million. The RAPID programme provided €64,500. The communities facility programme provided €64,000. That is a total of €10.038 million, including the €1 million for the library. That is not a bad contribution from one little Department in one year. If every Department matched that contribution, Donegal would not be able to spend all the money provided to it.