Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I warmly welcome the Minister of State to the House. I hope that we can have him here again because these areas are of great interest to all of us.

I will speak to a couple of the schemes in a moment but I would like first to pick up on some of what was said by my colleague, Senator Ruane, and Senator Conway-Walsh. This is not necessarily an indictment of or reflection on the Minister of State but it is important to acknowledge the impact that austerity measures had on the community development sector. I worked in the community and voluntary sector at the time. I was part of the attempts to organise against cuts in the early period of austerity in 2008 and 2009. We had marches and we had a little logo. Many of these projects were scattered and involved a small number of staff and part-time staff. The sector was not the same as some larger sectors that managed a resistance. There was significant defamation at a time that community development, community spirit and cohesion were most needed.

We must think constructively about where we must go now. At the time national organisations such as the Combat Poverty Agency, considered how one interrogated, and not just identified, challenged and combatted poverty, and the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism, worked on ways to integrate communities. In that same set of austerity measures there were cutbacks in community development. Outspoken people raised useful red flags about the problems on the ground, which should have been welcomed. This was not just true in Ireland but across Europe. The European Union has acknowledged that a social pillar must be introduced to repair the great damage done to society and social cohesion in Europe. The loss and atrophication of social cohesion is measurable in the Eurobarometer figures during the period of austerity. It was regrettable that some of those who were most outspoken and generous and who took risks to highlight the issues were sometimes some of the first community development projects to either be absorbed into others or be shut down. The Community Workers' Co-operative in Galway was one of the first to take a strong hit for having a challenging voice.

Within the community development projects that remained there was another problem but, thankfully, there is potential for it to be addressed. We had the 40:40, 10:10 rule. I love that the mission statement on Department's website states: "To promote rural and community development and to support vibrant, inclusive and sustainable communities throughout Ireland". That wider work of building and engaging the community had to move through a grid of what I call 40:40, 10:10 which meant 40% of all the time and resources had to go to training, 40% had to go to employment, and only two 10% envelopes left for community development. Only a small amount was left for youth groups that worked to make young people engage and know themselves as citizens at a time there was no work. Only 10% of funding was left for groups who worked with young people, children, and who were carers or groups that supported people who had disabilities. I encountered the cutbacks when I worked with older people. Some of the brilliant initiatives that had been happening in the empowerment and engagement of older people were atrophied. There was shrinkage in the work of building the fabric of society done by community development groups.

I recognise and like the aspiration that the Minister of State mentioned about "providing communities with a better chance of making choices for themselves and playing a key role designing and delivering appropriate solutions", which is key. One of the great principles of community development is that the community is empowered to recognise what it needs and say, "This is what matters to us, this is what will work for us and this is what we need". There is an unfortunate problem sometimes that in the patchwork of schemes that have been introduced since, with each of them is trying to do good work, they are focused on specific work with specific targets and parameters. The space and flexibility that the community development sector had to empower people to set the agenda and identify ideas that might start in one town but go on to become a national change has been impacted. The ideas for the future of Ireland come from our communities as well and are not simply something that land on a top-down basis. We need to recognise economic, social and transformative ideas and ingenuity that emerge. I say this to the Minister of State because I can see that he is passionate about this brief and recognises the great asset of rural and urban communities. There are two or three issues I wish to highlight. I welcome the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme, and the public and shared spaces initiatives. There are strands of funding through the LEADER programme and some funding from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. In terms of public and shared spaces within our urban communities, in particular, there is a challenge now. We want more housing and we need housing that is better. We need to identify spaces. For example, in Dublin 8, we know that many people would like to see the Player Wills site used for social housing, yet Weaver Park is shutting down. We need to recognise that those green spaces and shared spaces are part of the fabric of what makes a community. It is important there is resourcing of public and shared spaces in our urban communities as well as in rural communities. That is really vital. I have spoken about this previously in terms of the pollinator plan. There is almost an ecology and an ecosystem within each place and it is the social as well as the environmental space that needs to be nurtured.

I commend my colleague on the work in Ballaghaderreen - I know Senator Hopkins has encouraged and supported it - to build that excitement around, and support for, communities that are growing and expanding and that have new arrivals coming into them. That is somewhere the Minister of State can play a vital role. It is important resources come with that. For example, communities that take in new members, bringing a vibrancy back to their main streets, have a need for extended bus services and extended health resources. We should ensure that we do not just build houses and apartments on the outskirts of Dublin, for example, but that we plan the resources, the schools, the parks for the children and the people who will live in the area. Similarly in our rural communities, when we bring in people to the community, we should also provide the resources to strengthen and create a vibrant life.

I have a major concern about voluntary bodies, such as Citizens Information services in our towns and communities. One of the most regrettable decisions has been the decision to move away from the autonomy of local Citizens Information services right across Ireland. It is a decision which will haunt the Government. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Employment Affairs and Social Protection and we were deeply unhappy with how we heard about the roll-out of that process. The Minister of State may want to examine this from the perspective of his brief.

I refer to the role of arts centres throughout the country. We know there are tensions and difficulties whereby one place may have an arts centre while another place has a sports centre or community centre. Sometimes there can be a false sense that if a community has one centre, it will not get another centre when, in fact, each centre is doing different but very complementary work. Recently, the Arts Council did an audience survey that looked at the importance of the arts, not just for artists but for the audiences and what it meant for them to have access the arts at local and community level and I ask the Minister of State to look at that.

I commend the digital innovation scheme in regard to the bridges in Galway. I know many people have very tragically lost their lives in Galway, so this scheme is very positive.

Perhaps we could discuss the manner of procurement within SICAP and other funding so we do not have a situation whereby the way in which that funding comes out prohibits the security and the enthusiasm of long-term planning within the sector.