Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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25. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development his plans for the development of services within his portfolio in the coming years with particular reference to the need to develop and modernise services affecting rural Ireland and the Border regions; the extent to which he expects to be in a position to interact with and provide funding for voluntary community groups while at the same time enhancing the quality of services available through both the public and the private sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45950/18]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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As Minister with responsibility for Rural and Community Development my primary focus is to support the creation of vibrant and sustainable communities across this country and crucial to that is the development of the modern, efficient services needed for such communities to thrive.

My Department provides a wide range of supports to communities in rural Ireland, through programmes such as the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme, Community Services Programme, the LEADER Programme and others.

In addition, through Project Ireland 2040 and the National Development Plan, the Government will be providing investment of almost €116 billion over the next decade, much of which will be invested in the regions, including €1 billion through the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund which is delivered through my Department.  

Local communities deserve much of the credit for harnessing these supports and driving and delivering economic growth regionally and in rural areas and the Government must continue to enable and facilitate access to the services that are necessary to thrive in the 21st century economy.

I believe we can continue making progress on this front and my Department is continuing to play its part in the roll-out of the National Broadband Plan which aims to provide high-speed broadband access to all areas of the country. 

In relation to supports for voluntary community groups, my Department operates a number of funding programmes and schemes, such as the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme, LEADER and the Community Enhancement Programme, that are open to applications from groups in the voluntary sector who satisfy the relevant criteria during the application timeframes set for each scheme/programme.

My Department’s Community and Voluntary Supports and Programmes provide a framework of supports for the community and voluntary sector, including support for 21 Volunteer Centres, eight Volunteer Information Services and a number of volunteer-support organisations, such as Volunteer Ireland. My Department is supporting the upgrading, in 2019, of the Volunteer Information Services to full Volunteer Centres.

In addition, my Department will shortly be issuing a call for inputs to a paper on key aspects to be included in a National Volunteering Strategy, with a view to obtaining views from the sector in preparation for the development of a volunteering strategy in 2019.