Written answers

Wednesday, 3 April 2019

Department of Rural and Community Development

Rural Regeneration and Development Fund

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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85. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the degree to which he foresees an opportunity to introduce new schemes or the augmentation of the existing structures to direct assistance towards both urban and rural communities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15447/19]

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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209. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the extent to which he expects to be in a position to augment or extend the various grants or incentives administered by his Department nationally affecting rural and urban areas with particular reference to the targeting of areas suffering from social and or economic deprivation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15626/19]

Photo of Michael RingMichael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 85 and 209 together.

The Department for Rural and Community Development was established in 2017 to support the creation of vibrant and sustainable communities across this country.

My Department delivers a coherent package of supports to strengthen rural and urban communities. These supports enable economic growth and development and also support communities to address gaps in meeting social needs, including those caused by higher levels of deprivation.  

My Department will continue to support our communities to become and remain sustainable and desirable places to live, work and raise families and we are committed to reviewing funding priorities on an ongoing basis to ensure supports remain targeted at those most in need.

In 2018, the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund was launched as part of Project Ireland 2040 and this fund will provide €1 billion over the next 10 years, while the Town Centre Living Initiative, a pilot programme aimed at testing approaches to the revitalisation of towns and villages, was rolled out in six towns across the country.

The Community Enhancement Programme, born out of a review of the RAPID and Communities Facilities Scheme, was launched in 2018 to address disadvantage in urban and rural communities and allocated €13million to more than 3,000 projects in its first year. The 2019 Scheme was launched last week with an allocation of €4.5million.

In addition, since its establishment, my Department has also relaunched the Local Improvement Scheme for private rural roads and laneways and broadened the measures under which funding can be applied for under the CLÁR Programme, and a new Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme, worth €190 million over five years to the end of 2022, was commenced.

I have just commenced a review of the Community Services Programme, which provides funding to organisations delivering services in disadvantaged communities. This review will help inform decisions on the future shape and structure of the programme. More than €46 million is available to support community organisations under the programme in 2019.

The current Action Plan for Rural Development, a comprehensive cross-Government plan to support economic and social development in Ireland’s rural areas, runs to the end of 2019 and consideration is now being given to future rural development policy. A key deliverable for my Department during 2019 will be the development of a rural development policy to follow on from the Action Plan for Rural Development. 

An implementation plan for the Framework Policy for Local and Community Development in Ireland, published in 2016, as well as Ireland’s first National Policy on Social Enterprise, are also currently at an advanced stage of development.

I am confident that these plans will propose actions that will support rural economic development and the local and community development sectors to continue providing valuable needed services and supports to both urban and rural communities.

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