Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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366. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the extent to which her Department has directly assisted urban and rural communities in the course of the past two years; the extent to which she proposes to continue in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61042/21]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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375. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the extent to which her Department has directly assisted regional development throughout Ireland in the past 12 months under the various schemes sponsored by her Department; the extent to which she expects to be in a position to continue in this direction in the coming year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61051/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 366 and 375 together.

My Department was formed in 2017 giving a clear commitment by Government to support our rural communities and disadvantaged urban communities.

This commitment was further strengthened earlier in the year when I launched “Our Rural Future” – the Government’s 5 year Rural Development Policy 2021-2025. It is also underpinned on the community side with “Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities: A Five-Year Strategy to Support the Community and Voluntary Sector in Ireland 2019-2024”.

Since its formation, the budget for the Department has increased by over 50% and for 2021 it stands at €351m and this has supported rural and urban communities all over the country.

The Town and Village Renewal Scheme has supported the revitalisation of rural towns and villages in Ireland. Projects supported include, for example, bringing vacant dwellings back into use, shopfront enhancement, town/village marketing, and creation of green spaces. The minimum level of project funding is €20,000, and the maximum is €500,000. Towns and Villages the length and breadth of Ireland have benefitted: - over 1,341 projects in 838 towns and villages supported over the past five years.

The Outdoor Recreation and Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS) has provided funding for the development and/or enhancement of outdoor recreational infrastructure such as trails, walkways, cycleways, blueways and bridleways in rural areas. Since 2016, we have invested over €71 million in over 1,100 projects.

The Walks Scheme has also contracted landholders to undertake maintenance work on National Waymarked Ways and other priority trails that traverse their lands. On 29 September, I announced the 'approval in principle' of 31 new trails to join the Walks Scheme. This fulfils the commitment in the Programme for Government and Our Rural Future to double the number of trails on the Scheme to 80 trails.

The CLÁR programme has provided funding under a number of different measures for small-scale infrastructural projects in designated rural areas. My Department reviews the type of initiatives to be funded under the Programme each year. The Measures funded through this year's programme included supports for School and Community Safety projects, Outdoor Community Recreation Facilities and Community Wellbeing Supports - funding for Community Gardens and Allotments and Mobility and Cancer Care Transport vehicles. Since 2016, my Department has invested over €45 million in over 1,700 projects under the CLÁR programme.

My Department operates a number of funding schemes that focus on projects supporting remote working through the development of hubs, including the development of Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) as long-term, digitally-enabled community assets. To date, the National Hub Network Working Group led by my Department has identified and mapped over 450 remote working hubs across the country. Approximately 160 remote working hubs have joined the National network with this number rising on an ongoing basis.

In July this year, through the Connected Hubs funding stream, I awarded close to €9 million in funding to over 100 successful applicants, details of which are available on my Department's website.

The LEADER Programme supports actions in rural areas targeted at addressing local needs under the broad themes of economic development, social inclusion, and rural environment. The programme is administered by 29 Local Action Groups (LAGs) throughout Ireland. To date in 2021 over €37m has been allocated in Leader funding.

The Rural Regeneration and Development Fund has provided funding for ambitious and strategic large scale projects in rural areas to support town and village centre regeneration, remote working, connectivity, tourism development and economic and enterprise development which will help assist in attracting people back to live in rural areas. To date €255m has been provided for 164 projects costing €337m. This investment from the Fund will deliver on the National Strategic Objective of Strengthened Rural Economies and Communities and is key to achieving the objectives and key deliverables of Our Rural Future and the forthcoming Town Centre First policy approach.

My Department’s Community Services Programme, or CSP, currently supports over 420 community organisations. This helps them to provide local social, economic and environmental services through a social enterprise model of delivery, with a total funding allocation of almost €49m during 2021.

In 2020, my Department supported close to 600 organisations to continue to deliver vital services to the most vulnerable in our communities, through the €45m COVID-19 Stability Fund for Community and Voluntary Organisations, Charities and Social Enterprises. Following an additional allocation of €10m a further 244 organisations were supported by the fund in 2021, allowing them to continue to deliver critical services to their communities.

The PEACE PLUS programme 2021 - 2027, which is currently awaiting approval from the EU Commission, will be a new North South cooperation programme which will combine the existing PEACE and INTERREG EU funding strands into one cohesive cross-border programme, with a total value of €1 billion.

Under the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) funding is provided to Local Development Companies to complete work with marginalised individuals and the groups that represent them. Since 2018, the programme has supported over 80,000 individuals and over 5,000 Local Community Groups. My Department will provide SICAP funding in excess of €220 million over the years 2018-2023, with over €39 million in 2021, supporting front line workers in Local Development Companies to deliver SICAP on the ground.

In 2021, €1m in additional funding is being used to support a “Community Development Pilot Programme (CDP)”. The aim is to trial community development initiatives that address poverty, social exclusion and inequality, and promote human rights. Seven applicant organisations will take part in the pilot programme.

The Community Enhancement Programme (CEP) provides small grants to enhance facilities in disadvantaged areas. The 2021 CEP was launched in May with funding of €4.5m.w closed. More recently, another round of funding, the €9m Community Activities Fund, was launched under the CEP to support groups impacted by COVID-19.

I can assure the Deputy that we are committed to keeping all of our funding programmes and schemes operational into the years ahead as part of our important policies, including Our Rural Future and Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities.