Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the House for the invitation to address it on a topic of fundamental importance to the social fabric, cohesiveness and resilience of Ireland. I am pleased that Members from across the political and geographical spectrum are present, which is testament to our shared understanding of the significance of community and rural support schemes.

The Department of Rural and Community Development has a clear, people-centred, mission, which is to promote rural and community development and to support vibrant, inclusive and sustainable communities throughout Ireland. Every policy it makes, every programme it shapes and every activity it supports is informed by this mission. We are determined to see all of Ireland thrive, socially and economically and we recognise the interdependence between the two. We have clarity of purpose and our schemes are central to achieving our aims.

Communities play a key role in driving growth and we see it as the Government's duty to harness that capacity and foster social cohesion. Cohesive communities are not just better places to live because they are fairer and they value diversity; they are also more competitive and attractive to investors. It is a mutually reinforcing proposition that investment leads to job creation, which, with the right supports, can contribute to broader socioeconomic and community development. Let me clarify what I mean by community development. Our vision of community development at the Department is about providing communities with a better chance of making choices for themselves and playing a key role designing and delivering appropriate solutions that address their specific circumstances. This understanding of community development empowers and engages people and seeks to harness local knowledge and experience. It is about fostering collective action and cultivating cohesion in our communities and wider society. To support urban and rural communities, my Department provides funding for a range of programmes and schemes which operate throughout Ireland.

I will outline the funding available, as well as details associated with the specific schemes under the Department’s remit. Under Project Ireland 2040, the Government has committed €1 billion to the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund over a ten-year period to support rural economic development and to help build strong communities. The fund has been allocated €315 million for the period up to 2022, with €55 million set aside in my Department's budget for successful projects in 2019. The first call for applications for the fund closed at the end of September 2018 and there was an excellent response from across the country, with 280 applications received. In November 2018, the Minister, Deputy Ring, announced the first 18 successful category 1 shovel-ready projects for funding. The projects being supported received wide acclaim and should deliver benefits to the communities concerned. An announcement will be made shortly detailing further successful applications from the first call. A second call for applications is expected to take place later in the year.

The community services programme, CSP, delivered more than €40 million in 2018 to more than 400 community organisations countrywide, providing local services through a co-funded social enterprise model, with funding provided to support the cost of staff. The programme typically supports organisations to provide services and facilities that would otherwise generally be unavailable. Examples of organisations that will benefit from the programme include Tralee Community Care, which provides daily hot meals to older people and a local crèche and special needs school and Energy Action which provides home insulation and energy efficiency services for older people in the Dublin area. In 2019, €46.2 million has been committed to the CSP, which will support more than 2,000 posts in more than 400 organisations.

LEADER is a multi-annual programme for the period 2014 to 2020 and has a budget of €250 million over that period. Some €220 million of this funding has been allocated to the local action groups, LAGs, throughout the country who deliver the programme in accordance with local development strategies. These groups provide funding locally to projects that address economic, social and environmental challenges faced by rural areas. The remaining €30 million is available for schemes to be delivered at a national level. There was a significant increase in both project approvals and expenditure in 2018 due to efficiency gains and process improvements. Almost 1,700 projects have been approved for funding of more than €58 million. A further 379 projects with a value in excess of €22 million are currently going through the approval process.

The town and village renewal scheme was introduced in the second half of 2016 to arrest the decline of rural towns and villages and to harness the regeneration potential to support economic recovery. Almost €53 million has been approved for more than 675 projects throughout the State. The outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme provides funding for the development of new outdoor recreational infrastructure. It also supports the maintenance, enhancement and promotion of existing outdoor recreational infrastructure in Ireland. The scheme offers three separate measures: measure 1, the maintenance and promotion of existing infrastructure, with a maximum grant €20,000; measure 2, medium scale repair-upgrade and development of new small and medium infrastructure, with a maximum grant of €200,000; and measure 3, repair-upgrade and development of larger more strategic projects, with grants of between €200,001 and €500,000. Since 2016, €41 million has been invested in approximately 600 projects.

The CLÁR programme is a targeted investment programme, which provides funding for small scale infrastructural projects in rural areas that have suffered the greatest population decline. The aim of CLÁR is to support the sustainable development of identified programme areas by attracting people to live and work there. The funding works in conjunction with local funding and on the basis of locally identified priorities. Since 2016, €25 million has been invested under the programme, supporting 1,270 projects.

The local improvement scheme, LIS, supports improvement works on small private or non-public roads in rural areas. Some €38 million has been allocated to the LIS since September 2017, with more than 1,200 roads benefitting from support.There is a continuing demand for funding under the local improvement scheme, LIS, in rural communities across Ireland and so an allocation of €10 million was secured for the scheme in my Department’s Estimate for 2019.

The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme, SICAP, 2018-2022, is Ireland’s primary social inclusion intervention, delivered locally with funding of €190 million over a five-year period until 2022. The programme has two main goals, which I will summarise as supporting communities in addressing social exclusion and equality issues to create more sustainable communities and supporting disadvantaged individuals to improve the quality of their lives through the provision of lifelong learning and labour market supports. SICAP is co-funded by the Irish Government and the European social fund Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning 2014-2020. The programme supported more than 25,000 individuals in 2018.

The community enhancement programme provides capital funding to communities across Ireland to enhance facilities in disadvantaged areas. Typical enhancements under the programme could include the renovation of community centres, community amenities, improvements to town parks, common areas and spaces, CCTV equipment and energy efficiency projects. Some €12.5 million was allocated in 2018, with an additional €500,000 for the men’s shed fund. Over 3,000 projects have been supported under the community enhancement programme in total.

The seniors alert scheme encourages community support for vulnerable older people in communities through the provision of personal monitored alarms to enable them to live securely in their homes with confidence, independence and peace of mind. Following a review in 2017, the scheme has been a resounding success. Some €6.984 million was spent in 2018, supporting 19,000 new participants that year.

The scheme to support national organisations provides multi-annual funding towards core costs of national organisations in the community and voluntary sector, with a focus on organisations that provide supports to those who are disadvantaged. The current three-year scheme concludes on 30 June 2019 and the next iteration of the scheme commences on 1 July. A total of €16.7 million has been allocated under the current scheme to 71 different organisations.

Some €7 million was invested in 2018 to support library capital projects and services, including new builds, redevelopments, refurbishments and new mobile libraries, as well as a comprehensive programme to enhance digital capacity across our 330 or so public libraries. Up to €6 million has been allocated for 2019.

The Programme for Peace and Reconciliation is an EU-funded, cross-Border programme which supports peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the Border counties of Ireland. In 2018, we provided almost €4 million to support actions under the themes of shared spaces and services, building positive relations and children and young people. A further €5 million has been allocated for 2019.

I am very pleased the European Commission’s proposals for the next round of cohesion policy for 2021-2027 includes a specific proposal for a special new PEACE+ programme to build on earlier work.

The TidyTowns competition is certainly one of our best known and longest running schemes. Since its inception, the landmark competition has grown from 52 entrants in 1958 to 883 entrants across 26 counties in 2018. The Department made €1.4 million available to TidyTowns committees to assist them in their preparations for the 2018 competition and made a similar amount available in 2018 to assist with preparations for the 2019 competition.

The walks scheme facilitates the development and maintenance of many of Ireland’s key walking trails. The scheme currently covers 39 trails, with payments made to approximately 1,900 private land holders to maintain those trails. In line with Government commitment to increase the number of walks covered by the scheme, funding was doubled in budget 2019 from €2 million to €4 million.

The Department is also initiating a review of the scheme which will inform decisions regarding its expansion. The Department will be inviting local development companies and local authorities to submit expressions of interest in respect of trails that meet specific qualifying criteria for consideration for inclusion in the scheme in the coming weeks.

The Department invested €3.5 million towards volunteer supporting organisations in 2018. Last December, I launched a call for input paper on volunteering. This is the first step in developing a national volunteering strategy. I would urge all interested parties to engage with this important initiative and provide my Department with their views by 14 February.

My Department’s officials are also tasked with identifying and addressing potential barriers to the roll-out of the national broadband plan. This includes the ongoing co-funding of local authority broadband officers across the country with a subvention of €42,000 per council.

My Department continues to support local authorities as they draft their digital strategies. These strategies will set out each council’s digital roadmap to ensure that the benefits of high-speed broadband are fully realised in each county. My Department has also awarded more than €500,000 to local digital innovation projects that will provide real, tangible benefits to citizens. One such initiative in Galway city has seen the installation of a thermal imaging camera to monitor a bridge over the River Corrib. Over the years, several people have entered the river from this bridge and it is hoped that this initiative will assist responders to help those in difficulty.