Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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3488. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht when the next Rural Youth Assembly is to take place. [43737/25]

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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3489. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of Rural Youth Assemblies that have taken place to date; and to share the summary reports. [43738/25]

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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3490. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if any of the recommendations around housing made during the Rural Youth Assembly 2024 have been acted upon.; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43739/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 3488, 3489 and 3490 together.

The establishment of a Rural Youth Assembly was a commitment in Our Rural Future 2021-2025, with the objective of providing young people living in rural Ireland with the opportunity to make an ongoing contribution to issues that impact on them and their future.

The Assembly takes place annually and is held in collaboration with the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, and the National Participation Office.

The first Assembly took place online in 2021, and a further three in-person Assemblies have been held to date. The next Assembly is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 24 September 2025.

Summary reports from each Rural Youth Assembly are published on my Department's website and are available to view here: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-rural-and-community-development-and-the-gaeltacht/publications/rural-youth-assembly/.

The 2024 Summary Report and 2024 Recommendations were published earlier this year. Whilst the Summary Report acknowledges housing as a challenge for young people living in rural areas, the topic was not included in the delegates' final list of recommendations.

The Rural Youth Assembly has been an important conduit for helping to ensure that the views of young people are accounted for in the public policy process. As the Deputy will be aware, my Department is currenty developing the successor to the Government's Rural Development Policy, Our Rural Future. This policy will continue to recognise the central role of young people in our rural areas, and the consulation process underway for the new policy also reflects this.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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3491. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the funding figures allocated by each fund under his Department's remit to each county since 2015, in tabular form. [43743/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Since its establishment in 2017, my Department has allocated funding to tens of thousands of projects through its schemes which support community and rural groups throughout every county in the country. While some projects are funded directly by the Department, others are channelled through partners such as Local Authorities, Local Community Development Companies, Local Development Companies and community organisations such as Tidy Towns Groups and Men’s and Women’s Sheds.

Schemes such as LEADER, the Community Centre Investment Fund (CCIF), the Town and Village Renewal Scheme (TVRS), the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS), CLÁR, the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) and the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF), the Walks Scheme, the Community Recognition Fund (CRF), the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) and the Community Services Programme (CSP) all provide invaluable supports to fulfil the Department’s mission statement - to promote rural and community development and to support vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable communities throughout the country.

I refer the Deputy to the information on funding by county provided in Questions 608 through to 623 on 17th July 2025.

Information on the individual projects approved to date across all schemes is also available at Funding allocated by the department.