Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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73. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development when she will announce successful projects under the CLAR programme for Galway; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40583/24]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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85. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development when she will announce successful projects under the CLÁR programme for Kerry; the total fund available; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40569/24]

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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104. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development when she will announce successful projects under the CLÁR programme for Leitrim and Sligo; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40523/24]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 73, 85 and 104 together.

The CLÁR programme provides targeted investment funding for small scale infrastructural projects in rural areas that have experienced disadvantage and significant levels of de-population. It is a vital source of investment for our more remote areas and particularly our rural villages, and it has proven to be a very popular scheme with community groups all across rural Ireland in recent years.

I am delighted to note that as part of Budget 2025 announced last week, funding of €11 million has been for the CLAR Programme next year, up from €8.7 million in 2024. This means that we will have doubled the level of funding for CLAR in just a few years.

The 2024 CLÁR programme was launched on the 12th April last. The measures to be included in the CLÁR programme are reviewed and revised, if appropriate, each year.

The measures that are being funded under CLÁR this year are as follows:

Measure 1 provides funding of up to €50,000 to develop community facilities and amenities.

Measure 2 funds vehicles for community organisations providing transport for people with mobility issues or for cancer care treatment. It also funds vehicles for first responder organisations and, for the first time, meals on wheels organisations are now also supported.

The third measures provides tailored supports for community groups located on our islands.

Just last month, the successful projects under measure 2 of the 2024 programme were announced. A total of 49 vehicles have been approved with funding of over €2.1 million. This measure was introduced in 2018 and since then over 200 vehicles have been approved with over €10 million in funding.

This year Galway received funding of almost €59,000 for two vehicles. Groups in Sligo were allocated funding of over €46,000 for 2 vehicles, while funding of over €364,000 was provided for 7 vehicles in Kerry.

Earlier this week, I was very happy to see the announcement of the successful projects under measure 1 of the CLÁR programme. In total, funding of over €11.4 million was approved for 264 projects which are developing community facilities and amenities.

This includes 15 projects in County Galway worth almost €725,000, including playground upgrades in Moylough and community centre enhancements in Killererin.

Deputy Feighan, you will be aware that 15 projects were approved in Sligo worth over €572,000. These include a spectator stand at Eastern Harps GAA and enhancement works at Banada Abbey.

In Leitrim, we are supporting 14 projects with over €615,000 in funding, including the hall refurbishment at Beepark in Manorhamilton and improvements to a walking track at Mohill GAA.

In Kerry, 15 projects were also approved funding of over €651,000. Deputy Griffin will be delighted to note the approval of a public playground in Castlemaine Village and the renovation of a community building to provide a community hub in Sneem.

Details of all of the approved projects can found on my department's website.

This investment through the CLÁR programme will support the development of sports and outdoor facilities such as playgrounds, astro-turf pitches, running tracks and spectator stands.

It will also enhance community centres and local halls that will be upgraded and given a new lease life as part of the initiative.

There is a big focus too on supporting schools by investing in play areas for our children that will be accessible to all of the community.

There is also significant funding to develop our green spaces, sensory gardens and biodiversity areas, with funding also going to a number of our TidyTowns groups. In that regard, I look forward to the results of the SuperValu TidyTowns competition which will be announced in the coming weeks.

Department officials are currently assessing the applications that were submitted under measure 3 of the CLÁR programme which focuses on our inhabited offshore islands, and the successful projects under this measure will be announced in the coming weeks.

I think all of the deputies will agree that the significant investment in our rural areas under the CLÁR programme since it was reintroduced in 2016 has had a very positive impact. In total, some €84 million has been allocated to almost 2700 projects to date.

Communities up and down the country are enjoying the benefits that this funding has brought and I am confident that these benefits will continue to be felt for some time.