Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I raise the issue of the rural regeneration moneys that has been proposed by the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Humphreys. It is an important scheme. It is about making sure that rural Ireland gets back on its feet and many projects have been pushed through following the previous two calls for money. The most recent call for money closed last week. It is important that we have accountability for how the system works. Cork County Council has proposed five projects, as was the case previously. A project in Schull has not been proposed even though it made the cut on the previous two occasions. We have to look at where the public representative fits into this space. Members of the local authority were very supportive of the Schull marina project but it did not get through the process at Cork County Council level and that is very disappointing. The project will, effectively, run out of planning permission and how to progress it is going to be an enormous issue for us.

I believe we need to debate the powers that councillors have at local authority level. Is it now acceptable that the executive decides what projects go forward for national funding, whether from Bord Fáilte or the rural regeneration fund, without engaging with the local authority to a meaningful degree? I do not think that is appropriate. The new model of funding from national Government is coming through in batches from the rural regeneration fund or Bord Fáilte. Councillors need to have a stake and holding in how that happens. Unfortunately, that does not happen at the moment. We now need to find another mechanism to make sure that projects that the executive does not think appropriate can still happen.When one looks at the Schull project, planning permission will run out in the next 18 months. We need Cork County Council to actively work with the local community to ensure this project goes ahead because if it does not, the entire Mizen Peninsula will suffer.