Vol. 1023 No. 1
1. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will provide an update on LEADER programme funding, considering the European Commission's recent statement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28016/22]
Will the Minister provide us with an update on the LEADER programme and the funding for it, particularly considering the statement made recently by the European Commission? It was an annexe to a response to our CAP proposals and it included information on LEADER.
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue.
The LEADER programme is a key intervention of Our Rural Future, the Government's policy for rural development launched last year, which aims to deliver a range of actions to rural communities over the lifetime of the policy.
Some €250 million has been made available for LEADER for the period 2021 to 2027. This comprises €70 million for the transitional period 2021 to 2022 and an additional €180 million from 2023 to 2027. This level of funding is evidence of the Government's continued support for the LEADER programme.
My officials are engaging with colleagues from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the European Commission on the design of the next LEADER programme from 2023 and on the points raised by the European Commission in its observation letter on Ireland's CAP strategic plan.
Any discussion on rural development investment must also take account of the record levels of investment in recent years. A range of schemes, funded outside of the CAP, have been implemented in recent years, such as the rural regeneration and development fund, the town and village renewal scheme, the walks scheme and the outdoor recreation scheme, all of which contribute to enhancing our rural areas.
The national development plan, NDP, also outlines a clear commitment to a continuation of investment in rural Ireland, with capital funding allocations for my Department increasing from €88 million in 2018 to €205 million in 2025.
I am confident that this level of funding, through the range of schemes, including LEADER, will continue to support and to further develop our rural areas.
I understand that the CAP period of 2023 to 2027 is not fully determined yet and that work is under way on the design of LEADER for that period.
Will the Minister indicate the timeline for the completion of the design and when LEADER will know exactly what is happening from 2023 onwards? The EU, through the European Commission's statement, said with regard to the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, general objective of strengthening the socioeconomic fabric of rural areas, Ireland is invited to reflect on whether the budgetary resources and the instrument proposed are in line with the high number of needs identified. It also refers to different regions in Ireland. This brings us back to the north west and the west, which is the only region in the country that is no longer considered to be developed. It is a region in transition. It is regressing and it is in need of major investment to bring it back up to a developed region. That is urgent. When will the funding for the period from 2023 to 2027 be in place?
The indicative budget of €180 million has been announced for the LEADER programme for the period 2023 to 2027. When taken together with the €70 million for 2021 and 2022 under the transition LEADER programme, a total of €250 million will be made available for the 2021 to 2027 period, thus maintaining the level of funding provided in the period 2014 to 2020.
Approximately €139 million has been paid to beneficiaries in respect of completed works, with 3,250 projects receiving their final payment claim, representing 62% of all projects approved. Preparations for the design and delivery of the next LEADER programme from 2023 to 2027 are well under way. There is ongoing engagement between my officials, colleagues from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the EU Commission with a view to obtaining approval for the CAP strategic plan as a matter of priority. I cannot give the Deputy a specific date, but I can assure her a lot of work is going on to make sure the plan is approved as quickly as possible.
The Minister will also know the interim funding that is in place now was a matter of concern for the Irish Local Development Network, ILDN. A number of LEADER projects throughout the State felt the funding was inadequate for the period. She will also know the ILDN is not satisfied with the €180 million for the four-year period. Issues have been raised in regard to that. Now that the European Commission is questioning the approach, given the high level of need identified, Ireland is being asked to reflect on whether the proposed budgetary resources are in line with the need. That is something that will have to be looked at and addressed, because if the ILDN is saying the funding is inadequate, then it must be examined. The interim funding for many LEADER projects has already been allocated and spent and there are still a number of months to go in 2022. They feel the funding should have been increased. The regions must be looked at as well in light of any funding that will come through Pillar 2.
The Commission is talking specifically about CAP. We have all the other schemes the Government is putting money into to support rural Ireland, which is what the Commission wants to see also. It wants to see the governments are putting investment in.
We have the rural regeneration and development fund, from which the sum of €347 million has been allocated to 164 projects since 2018. The town and village renewal scheme has been allocated €93 million since 2016. The outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme has been allocated €87 million since 2016, with more than 1,200 projects supported. Almost 1,800 projects have been supported by CLÁR with €45 million. More than 12,000 projects have been supported under the community enhancement programme since 2018.
Nobody has run out of money yet. I have seen this a few times in the past. People get very nervous when it comes to the end of a programme. I put transition funds in place this time in order that staff could be retained and projects could continue to be funded. Some LEADER companies are doing very well in terms of their spend and others are not doing as well. I have never been found wanting when it comes to funding for LEADER.
2. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the engagement she has had with the mobile phone and broadband task force in the past six months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27815/22]
I want to get the perspective of the Minister on her latest interactions with the mobile phone and broadband task force.
The mobile phone and broadband task force was re-established on 15 December 2021 with an inaugural meeting of State bodies co-chaired by the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth. This meeting included senior representatives of a number of Departments and State bodies. This first meeting allowed the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, and the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to set out their priorities for the coming period, which include improving mobile phone coverage in rural areas; examining issues around planning permissions and licensing for, and sharing of, telecoms infrastructure; the use of public assets for telecoms purposes; and improving the quality and availability of information for consumers of telecoms services and products.
On 27 April 2022, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, co-chaired the second meeting of the reconvened task force. This meeting was attended by the full task force membership, including representatives of the telecommunications industry. This meeting allowed for discussion of the draft year one work programme and the terms of reference. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, were both impressed with the level of commitment shown by members to the ambitions of the task force and the creative nature of the proposed solutions.
As the work programme moves towards implementation, officials from this Department and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications will continue to engage with each member of the task force bilaterally to ensure progress on the actions. It is anticipated the next meeting of the task force will take place in September 2022 with an annual stakeholder forum to take place in spring 2023.
Did the Minister of State, Deputy O'Brien, attend the meeting as well?
No, I did not.
The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is here and she attended the meeting, so I am not sure why she is not answering the question.
We are sharing the load.
Yes, we are sharing.
I understand. The Ministers are sharing the load. I accept that. I apologise. Two key points arise from those deliberations. One is the point about improving outdoor mobile phone coverage. I acknowledge that a lot had been achieved in the key output of the previous task force of improving mobile phone coverage in rural areas and in urban blackspots. As more and more people are taking the modal shift in transport from private car travel into train and bus travel, we must ensure blackspots are addressed, in particular on the railway line, for instance, between Cork and Dublin, which is a service people use. Are such services being considered in terms of ensuring we have complete 100% coverage?
I can give the Deputy some information about what the task force is looking at. The issues it will look at this time are more complex, knotty and time consuming, and responsibility for such actions cannot always be assigned to a single body, as was the practice previously. We will make use of the well-established collaborative culture of the task force to take on the actions that require multiple stakeholders working together to deliver. That means fewer actions with longer delivery timelines but a much greater strategic impact. Specific actions have been discussed with members and there is a plan to publish the year one work programme in the coming weeks. The actions will fall under the three pillars of planning and licensing, improving information and access to assets and infrastructure, and improving customer information advice and experience.
I think we all acknowledge the work. We also acknowledge that the coverage of mobile telephony could be improved. There are still some well-noted blackspots. We all know of them within our constituencies. If we could find some mechanism where we as public representatives could notify somebody who is involved in the task force of these specific blackspots, we would be serving our constituents well in that regard. I referred specifically to the Cork to Dublin railway line, where there are significant blackspots, and I wonder if that could be addressed. If the Minister of State could take that message back, I would be most grateful.
Certainly, we can feed that very practical point back into the task force. I will give the Deputy a flavour of some of the actions that are currently agreed. The Department of Rural and Community Development will continue to refine and enhance the broadband officer roles across local authorities in alignment with the implementation of the EU connectivity toolbox and the development of the EU smart community policy. In short, the Department will work with the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, to align the work of the broadband officers with European policy priorities as well as national priorities such as Our Rural Future, town centre first, making remote work and the national digital strategy. By aligning more with EU policy, we hope to leverage European funding and opportunities for collaboration and the exchange of ideas and expertise with colleagues across the Continent.
3. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the engagements she has had with community-based organisations in relation to tackling the cost of living and other major societal challenges; if she has met with an organisation (details supplied) on this matter; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27813/22]
This question relates to engagements with community-based organisations on tackling the cost of living and other major societal challenges. Has the Minister met with organisations, such as the alliance of 32 organisations, on this matter?
The programme for Government recognises the importance of regular and open engagement with all sectors of society. In this regard, I work with the community and voluntary sector through the cross-sectoral group, CSG, in implementing Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities, the five-year strategy to support the community and voluntary sector. The community and voluntary pillar, of which Community Platform is a member, is represented on the CSG. The Department of Rural and Community Development has worked collaboratively with the sector through the CSG to create and agree a document setting out values and principles for collaboration and partnership working with the community and voluntary sector, which was approved by the Government recently.
Another key action in the strategy is the establishment of a civic forum for formal dialogue between the community and voluntary sector and local and central government. My Department is working on the design of this forum, which will take place later this year. The forum will be developed in collaboration with community and voluntary stakeholders and its work will be underpinned by the recently agreed values and principles.
In my capacity as Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection, I host an annual social inclusion forum, which provides people affected by poverty and social exclusion, as well as the community organisations representing them, with the opportunity to come together with officials from relevant Departments to discuss poverty and social inclusion policy. One of the workshops at this year's forum, to be held in June, will be on income adequacy and the cost of living.
We all know there is a major difference between talking and having a real, genuine input into the challenges faced by all community organisations regarding the cost of living and other significant issues facing our society. The alliance has put out a call because there is a concern about the quality of that engagement and how genuine it will be in taking all the opinions on board. Ms Rachel Doyle, co-director of Community Work Ireland, which is a member of Community Platform, has said:
It is not credible that the Government can expect to find the best solutions to crucial social issues for all of our society such as childcare, housing and health without the full and equal engagement of the representatives of those who depend most on these essential public services. We know first-hand from Community Platform members the struggle which diverse groups in our communities are experiencing and the measures needed to address them.
Community Platform is calling for that genuine engagement with the Government and to have its input taken on board and implemented.
I am dividing my reply into two halves as regards my role. As part of my role in the Department of Rural and Community Development, I spend much of my week engaging with the community and voluntary sector through different platforms and different formats. I am very familiar with members of Community Platform. I meet with many of them periodically regarding different issues. I have not had a formal meeting with Community Platform as a collective since last year. A number of Ministers and I met the Taoiseach. We had an initial discussion about social dialogue but formal meetings with Community Platform, particularly on the issues the Deputy outlined, are not what I do as part of my remit at the Department of Rural and Community Development. However, with my Department of Social Protection hat on, there are opportunities that I mentioned in my opening answer.
This is critically important because of the scale of the rise in costs that society is facing at present. There is deep concern following the Taoiseach's statement today about the increasing cost of fuel because of the Ukrainian crisis, on foot of the deal done last night in the European Parliament. People are genuinely terrified about what will happen and how they will be able to live. The summer months will be a little easier because if it is a good summer, as we hope it will be, there will obviously be reduced costs for people, but they are terrified of what will happen as they come into the winter. Community organisations are in the same position. Members of those organisations are talking personally about their projects and how they will fund themselves, but they are also talking about the people they work with. That is what they care most about and those people are the ones they are most concerned about. It is about having that impact, and sitting at the table having a real and genuine engagement and partnership with the Government and Departments, to ensure the things they are talking about and that matter to them are implemented.
I will not go through the various lists and forums through which I engage with the sector. As I said, I spend a lot of time doing it. On what the Deputy is talking about and the wider challenges society is facing, the civic forum we are planning for later this year is possibly the best outlet to tease out the major issues and to get a good representation of civil society around the table. That might then feed further into social dialogue, which is also something we want to progress. I take the Deputy's points. I have been contacted only today by Community Platform with a view to meeting and I will be glad to do so.
4. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will seek to increase significantly the local improvement scheme funding to ensure that a real impact can be made on the list of schemes to be carried out by each county council; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28017/22]
Question No. 4, in the name of Deputy Pringle, will be taken by Deputy Connolly.
This question also applies to Galway so I am happy to take it on behalf of Deputy Pringle. It specifically relates to whether the Minister intends to increase local improvement scheme funding significantly to ensure it has a real impact. This goes back to a previous reply that indicated there were no reliable data relating to the actual demand and the number of roads. I ask the Minister to factor that into her answer, even though it is not specifically asked. The rationale behind that is that data are missing on how to assess whether the money the Department is giving is effective.
The local improvement scheme, LIS, supports the improvement of rural roads and laneways that are not normally maintained by local authorities. As part of Our Rural Future, the Government is committed to ensuring the scheme is funded into the future.
The LIS was reintroduced in 2017 following a number of years with no dedicated funding in place. The scheme is administered locally by the relevant local authority, which is responsible for prioritising and selecting eligible applications within broad parameters set by my Department. Following the launch of the LIS with the confirmation of county allocations, each local authority submits a priority list of roads, as well as a reserve list to my Department before works commence locally.
From 2017 to 2021, my Department allocated €80 million towards improvement works on more than 3,000 non-public roads and lanes benefiting over 13,000 landowners and residents in these rural areas. I was pleased, as part of budget 2022, to announce an increase in the base funding for the LIS from €10.5 million to €11 million this year. I announced details of the 2022 scheme in early April and approvals have now been issued for works to commence to all but one local authority. Last year, I was in a position to double the initial LIS allocation to €21 million following the identification of savings in other capital areas. This year, I am continuing to monitor expenditure patterns closely. Should savings emerge, I will certainly give consideration to allocating additional funding to the scheme again.
On the issue of funding, different local authorities have different criteria. Some are open to new applications in respect of the numbers on the list, while others are working their way through historical lists on a first come, first served basis. Some local authorities only include eligible applications in their returns to my Department and others appear to include all historical applications. It is hard to get exactly correct data but my officials are working on these issues.
I thank the Minister. I appreciate the fact the money has doubled. Arising from previously, the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service, IGEES, set out to look at whether there is value for money. Its focused assessment, which the Minister referred to in a previous reply, included as part of recommendation 4 that it was necessary to carry out an estimate of "the scale of the relevant non-public road network" in Ireland. She said at that point that this recommendation was being considered along with others.
That was 2020 and we are now in 2022. Deputy Pringle feels that his county is losing out in the allocation of funding because of the change to allocations based on geographical criteria. Saying exactly what the scale of the non-public roads is is complex, but where does the recommendation stand, given that the Minister stated it was under active consideration?
I made a large additional allocation last year, which was welcomed, and I am committed to supporting the LIS. Some local authorities did not spend all of their allocation last year. Donegal was one of those. Its spend was €35,000 short. We allowed it to carry that amount into this year, but its 2022 allocation has been reduced as a result of the shortfall in delivery.
The assessment is not uniform. As the Deputy knows, different local authority engineers in different municipal areas will deem some roads on the list eligible while others will not. Even within local authorities, there are differences in how the figures are compiled. My officials are exploring these issues and we are consulting the local authorities to try to ensure that a consistent data set is available.
Regarding the Deputy's county of Galway, the 2022 LIS allocation is €958,831. The total allocation for 2021 was €1.58 million.
I am zoning in on this because the Minister's previous answers were given in the context of the absence of reliable data. While I appreciate that the figures seem large and they have increased, it is difficult to put them in context without adequate data. The IGEES produces these reports, which are very good and tell us whether there has been value for money. According to the IGEES, and the Minister repeated it, there are no reliable data on the matter.
Where does this specific consideration stand? Will we have a report on it and what is going to happen? The key element for Deputy Pringle in this is the allocating of funding based on geography as opposed to demand. My experience has been that demand on the ground is much greater than the allocation.
There are two issues, one of which is the absence of reliable data, as highlighted by the focused public policy assessment.
Funding is allocated each year based on the geographical area of each county, with a minimum and a maximum allocation applied, and the basis for allocating funds is reviewed each year. My Department has received indicative figures from the local authorities for the applications on hand. We need to be sure that the figures provided for each county are comparable.
The officials are examining these issues and consulting local authorities. It takes time, but the most important point to make is that we are making some inroads into the lists. My constituency counties are no different from any other, as both Cavan and Monaghan have long lists. However, we must remember that this fund was closed for a good number of years. In fairness to my predecessor, Deputy Ring, he was the man who reopened it. It has been running ever since and a good deal of funding has been invested in it. I appreciate that there are lists, but the LIS was always funded by the Department of Transport. I have been in contact with the Minister to see what his Department can bring to the table in this regard.
5. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if more funding will be provided in 2022 in view of the many local improvement schemes in County Kerry, as there are over 660 applicants still on the current list and at the level of funding being allocated, it will take over 35 years to exhaust this list (details supplied). [28020/22]
My question is in the same vein. There are still 678 roads on our list. I believe that we have the longest list in the country, but we are only getting funding for 15 roads per year. I appreciate that we got extra funding last year, when we dealt with 19 roads, but a list of 678 roads would take 45 years to get through. I do not think that any of us who are in the Chamber tonight – except for maybe the Acting Chairman, Deputy Carey, who looks young enough, and Deputy Kerrane – will be here in 45 years’ time. It would take ten Governments, assuming they lasted four and a half years, which they may not. We will have to get more funding. What is the Minister’s view on this matter?
The focus of the LIS is to support the continued improvement of rural roads and laneways that are not normally maintained by local authorities but that represent vital infrastructure for rural residents. The scheme is also used to fund non-public roads leading to important community amenities such as graveyards, beaches, piers, mountain access points or other tourism and heritage sites.
My Department provides an allocation of funding each year to the local authorities for works on these roads. The selection of roads to be funded under the scheme is then a matter for each local authority based on the priority or condition of particular roads in its county. The local authority may rely on existing lists of eligible roads and-or advertise for new applicant roads. Demand for the scheme is strong and it is normally oversubscribed. It is acknowledged how important the scheme is for people in rural areas and for farm families in particular. There is no other source of funding for these roads, which provide vital access to agricultural lands and rural homes.
I was pleased, as part of budget 2022, to announce an increase in the base funding for the LIS from €10.5 million to €11 million this year. Last year, I was in a position to double the initial LIS allocation to €21 million following the identification of savings in other capital areas. Kerry received more than €1.1 million of this funding in 2021.
This year, I am continuing to monitor expenditure patterns closely. Should savings emerge, I will give consideration to allocating additional funding to the scheme again.
I thank the Minister for her reply, but I will pick her up on something she said. She stated that they were non-public roads, but they are public. It is just that they have not been taken in charge by a local authority. They have the same status as roads that were taken in charge by local authorities. Authorities stopped doing that in the early 1980s, but these roads were left behind. They are public roads, not private ones.
To qualify, there must be at least two landholdings. The council would not dream of dealing with private roads where there was one or two houses and no landholdings. We are talking about public rights of way and public roads.
Our county’s list was completed in 2018. Mixed into that were 90 applications made between 2007 and 2012. That was wrong. People on these roads pay every kind of tax – carbon tax, motor tax, income tax, property tax and the universal social charge. Indeed, people on these roads cost the State very little. Most have their own septic tanks and water and farmers on public water supplies pay savage water bills. They have built and maintained their own houses. These roads are also used by others providing services – milk lorries, feed lorries, tractors, ambulances, doctors, home helpers, postmen, public health nurses, vets, departmental inspectors, school buses and cars taking children to school.
These are public roads. The Department says that they are private roads, and this is where the Government has gone wrong, so I ask the Minister to challenge the Department. These are not private roads, but public ones.
I know exactly what the Deputy is talking about. When I was being reared on a farm, I lived on a lane that was a mile long. I know all about potholes on a lane. We had to swerve the bikes to get past them. I also know about septic tanks because I have a well and a septic tank.
I am glad the Minister does.
The LIS was always funded by the Department of Transport.
In fairness, my predecessor, Deputy Ring, brought the scheme back and I have continued it. We doubled the funding for LIS last year and increased the funding available in the budget for 2022. My county is the same as the Deputy's; it is rural and it has lots of roads but I have to cut my cloth to measure and divide up the pot we get. I have raised this matter with the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, who has responsibility for roads. In view of the fact that the LIS was always funded by the Department of Transport, I have asked that the Minister would consider matching the funding provided by my Department. That means more money and more roads. The Department of Transport has a much bigger capital budget than mine. I cannot do the loaves and fishes because I have a pot and a lot of other things have to get funding as well.
I thank the Minister for her reply and I recognise Deputy Ring's input because it was I who asked him to bring back the LIS at the Joint Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs several times and I am glad he responded and did so. I do not mind whether the money comes from the Department of Transport or the Department of Rural and Community Development. I have a serious ask for the Minister. There are 678 roads and if we only do 19 or 20 a year, it will take us a long time, which is not fair on the people of Kerry. The people on these roads are every bit as entitled to a good road as the people in Dublin 4. We have to recognise the problem and deal with it, and that problem is funding. I appreciate that the Minister is doing her best and I agree with her that the Department of Transport should facilitate these people. The Minister talks about cycling on her road but you cannot cycle on any of these roads now because you are in and out of potholes and the traffic is massive. The people on these roads are entitled to better and I am asking the Minister, as a Minister from a rural county, to respond and do more for us. We are in a bad situation.
I know about the milk tanks coming in these roads and there were a few concerns that they would not come in any more because they were in such bad condition. Thankfully, I am aware of one case where the road was fixed and the milk tanker is going in to collect the milk. The Deputy will appreciate that and I mention the challenges that rural people face. The only thing I have to make to him is that I have to cut my cloth to measure. If I give more money to the LIS, where does he want me to take it out of? It will have to come from the rural regeneration and development fund, CLÁR, the town and village renewal scheme, the connected hubs fund, the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme or the new community centres investment fund that I have just announced last week. It is a balancing act and the commitment I have given is that if savings emerge later in the year I will look at increasing the funding to the LIS. I would like to see some matched funding coming from the Department of Transport. There are the community incentive schemes as well and that fund is in the Department of Transport. Maybe that should be considered too.
All I will say to the Minister is we are not recognising the amount of taxes that the people on these roads are paying. They are not getting value for their money.
