I welcome the Minister, Deputy Michael Ring, to the House. I am not sure how often he has been in this Chamber since his new appointment-----
Department of Rural and Community Development: Statements
This is the first time I have been here.
I thought that might be the case but I was not sure if he had been in the House when I was not present. He is very welcome to our new Chamber. I congratulate him on his elevation to Cabinet. Of course, since last week, he is no longer the newest member.
The order is that the Minister will speak first. Group spokespersons will have eight minutes and all other Senators will have five minutes. There is no concluding time so we will continue until all Senators who indicate have spoken.
I thank the House for the opportunity to brief Members this evening on the important work I am leading in the Department of Rural and Community Development. As Members know, the Department was established on 19 July 2017. I am honoured to have been asked by An Taoiseach to lead the new Department. The decision to establish the Department is an important one as we seek to promote and support vibrant, inclusive and sustainable communities throughout Ireland, both rural and urban.
The Government has made a very clear commitment in A Programme for a Partnership Government that, as the national economy recovers and grows, the benefits will be felt by everybody. We know that is not yet the case. The Taoiseach has referred to creating a republic of opportunity for all citizens. To deliver on that, people working hard in every town and village in the country have to be confident that growth will be evenly shared. They have to be confident that they can have the same opportunities and choices, no matter where they live or where they choose to raise their families.
The Government's focus over the past two programmes for Government has been on recovery and we are definitely seeing the results of that. There is no doubt the economy is experiencing the kind of growth we had hoped for, with unemployment continuing to fall and jobs being created across a wide range of sectors. I recently launched the new updated Pobal HP Deprivation Index, which takes account of the significant changes experienced throughout the country since 2011. We can take some encouragement from the finding that there has been a 41% recovery since 2011 in terms of overall levels of affluence and disadvantage. However, the index is a reminder, if it were needed, of the significant challenges that exist including in rural Ireland and in our towns and villages. Small towns with a population of between 1,000 and 5,000 have been the worst affected over the past ten years, being disproportionately hit by the recession and benefiting less from the recovery than the most urban and the most rural areas. The index has and will enable us to target more effectively resources and services at the most disadvantaged and it is a vital tool for so many Departments, including my own, as well as many State agencies.
Within this new remit, I see my Department's role as twofold: first, to facilitate economic development through the creation of jobs and the infrastructure required to support those jobs; and, second, to support our communities to become more sustainable and attractive places to live and work. The work is guided by two key policy documents. Realising our Rural Potential, the Government's action plan for rural development, aims to unlock the enormous potential of Ireland's rural communities to improve the lives of those living and working in rural areas. Through a framework of supports at national and local level, the action plan takes a co-ordinated approach across Government to both the economic and social development of rural Ireland. The plan covers a three-year period and contains a series of time-bound actions which will be monitored and reported on regularly. The first progress report on the action plan, delivered in August 2017, showed great progress on the 227 actions contained in it. Some 220 of those 227 actions are either completed, on schedule or in progress, and I expect to be able to detail further positive developments when the second progress report is published early next year.
Our Communities: A Framework Policy for Local and Community Development is the second important policy document guiding our work. The framework policy reflects a shared commitment by national and local government, and the local and community development sector, to engage with communities and to work with partners in planning, delivering and evaluating interventions, and the policies underpinning those interventions, for the good of individuals and communities. The framework policy will be implemented on a cross-Government basis and will seek to secure a joined-up collaborative and participative approach to local and community development at local level. It is guiding the work on the development of local community planning and public participation networks within my own Department.
Communities are nothing without their people, and the efforts of volunteers across the entire country are invaluable to the social fabric of those communities. They are in many ways our greatest asset and must be supported and encouraged at regional and local levels. Engagement across Government at political and Executive level will be a very strong feature of how we work. I will come back to the House again on that, but I also have the opportunity to make investment choices within my own Vote to support and promote local communities to become more sustainable and vibrant places in which to live and work.
In the recent budget I secured in excess of €220 million in funding for rural Ireland, giving us the foundation we need to drive the rural and community agenda and to deliver initiatives that can foster growth right across the country. This includes flagship programmes such as the Leader and the SICAP programmes; the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme; the town and village renewal scheme; the library capital investment programme; and the local improvement scheme, as well as a range of other community support schemes and programmes.
In 2017, I have had the opportunity to advance a number of important investments right across my brief, including €11 million in approvals for projects under measures 1 and 3 of the 2017 outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme; €20 million in approvals for the town and village renewal scheme, which focuses on economic development in rural towns and villages; €7 million in approvals for the CLÁR programme for small-scale infrastructural projects in rural areas that have suffered the greatest levels of population decline; €17.4 million for a new local improvement scheme for non-public rural lanes and roads; the €5 million RAPID programme, which is focused on tackling social exclusion in disadvantaged urban areas and provincial towns; additional funding of €3.75 million for the continued modernisation of the library service, enhancing services for library users and paving the way for the launch of the new public library strategy early in 2018; some €1.4 million in grant funding for the Tidy Towns competition as we look forward to celebrating the 60th anniversary in 2018; and €800,000 for 120 agricultural shows throughout the country.
Let me give a couple of examples of the impact that these investments can have on local communities.
The Ludgate Hub in Skibbereen is a digital hub that was given €150,000 under the town and village renewal programme. Ludgate is a great example of what can be achieved with the aid of Government investment. There are now more than 30 businesses operating out of the hub. It is a credit to those involved. I recently visited the Blueway project in Drumshanbo, a project also supported by my Department. It supports eight small local businesses. Even these small investments can have an enormous impact on a town and the surrounding hinterland. These projects offer the potential for local job creation and, if replicated, can generate real economic growth. In a different way, the investment in the Tidy Towns competition serves to celebrate the wonderful example of volunteerism with results that benefit the whole community. We know this is part of the social fabric we enjoy in Ireland and we must protect and promote.
The home from home learning programme in north-east inner city Dublin is another excellent example supported by revitalising areas by planning, investment and development, RAPID, one of the community programmes. The programme is making a really positive difference to children and families in the area so that these children can grow up with the language and mathematical skills needed for success in life. However, what was most striking to me in visiting the area was seeing how this whole community works together to make this happen.
Another initiative my Department is involved in relates to broadband connectivity. We all know that this is a serious concern for many in rural Ireland, and the Government has committed to ensuring that high-speed services are available to every business, group or residential customer in every area of the country. I am delighted to be supporting the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Naughten, in the roll-out of this project. My Department has provided funding to every local authority to appoint a dedicated person to assist in ensuring that there are no local barriers to the roll-out of broadband.
I also want to mention the Charities Regulatory Authority which has also come under the remit of my Department. This is Ireland's national statutory regulator for charitable organisations. It is independent in its mission to regulate charitable organisations operating in Ireland. Since its establishment in 2014, great progress has been achieved by the regulator as it seeks to increase public trust and confidence in the management and administration of those operating in the charitable sector. The work of the regulator is a separate but important aspect of my Department's work in supporting the community and voluntary sector in Ireland, recognising the unique role charities play in supporting communities across Ireland.
The scheme to support national organisations in the community and voluntary sector, SSNO, is a key element of the State's support for the role of the sector in contributing to the development of strong and vibrant civil society and in improving outcomes for those most disadvantaged. The Department supports volunteer centres in 21 counties as well as a number of national organisations such as Volunteer Ireland and young social innovators. The funding of these organisations is designed to foster volunteerism in Ireland, building a support structure that would develop volunteering locally from the bottom up.
Social enterprises differ from commercial enterprises in that they have a social mission. Social enterprise has a long-standing presence in Ireland, building on deep roots of community organisations, self-help and enthusiasm for enterprise. In September, I committed to developing a national social enterprise policy. As part of this work I announced a research partnership between my Department and the Social Finance Foundation. Work on this research is ongoing. A steering group is in place which involves both key Government Departments and experienced social enterprise practitioners. The policy is scheduled to be completed in early 2018.
I mentioned earlier that achieving success involves the work of a number of Departments. Collaboration between my Department and our colleagues across Government must lead to policies and programmes that take a holistic approach. This approach must consider the needs of all communities, regardless of location or population. Responding to the challenges being experienced by many communities requires many hands and financial investment across many Departments. This cross-Government working and leveraging of effort and influence is at the heart of the two policy documents I mentioned earlier. My capacity to engage at Cabinet level and bring that continued focus to this rural and community agenda is also going to be critical to achieving real impact. Upcoming Government initiatives include the national planning framework and the national investment plan, ensuring the balanced regional rural and community development of communities everywhere is an important focus for me in working with colleagues across Government on these two policy initiatives.
In addition to the ongoing programmes of work being undertaken, my Department is also working its way through the challenges associated with its establishment. There is no doubt that this brings its own workload but I am very pleased with the progress to date. As well as making the practical arrangements, both legal and administrative, to establish the Department, we have welcomed a cohort of young, vibrant new staff to our ranks. My officials and I recognise that part of the opportunity and the challenges for the new Department is to make a difference. My team are in the process of finalising a statement of strategy which reflects the new combination of responsibilities. By bringing together key policy, supports and programmes we can offer something which is greater than the sum of its parts.
I will conclude by saying that I believe the creation of this Department is a huge opportunity for communities across Ireland. I know that the Senators here this evening share with me the aspiration that all our citizens have the same opportunities, regardless of where they live. As Minister for Rural and Community Development, I am committed to ensuring that the policies of this Government reflect these aspirations and recognise the unique challenges these communities face. I thank the Senators for their attention.
On my own behalf and on behalf of all of us, I wish you and your Department the very best in its new configuration. We had a Bill in the House over the summer making sure that you could be set up within the rules.
I call on Senator Robbie Gallagher. You have eight minutes.
The Minister, Deputy Ring, is very welcome and I thank him for his presence in the House. I congratulate him and wish him well in his new role. What does hearten me is that the Minister is a man born from the roots of rural Ireland. That does give me some confidence that he does understand the plight of rural Ireland and the pressures and strains that rural Ireland currently is going through.
Having said that, there is no denying that the Fine Gael-led Government over the last couple of years has allowed this country to develop a two-tier economy where the growth is primarily concentrated in the major cities such as Dublin, which accounts for as many jobs as the next 45 towns and cities put together. In many ways rural Ireland under Fine Gael to date is the black sheep of Government thinking. Rural Ireland can be described as being in the intensive care ward. We cannot just blame lack of finance. The new Department of Rural and Community Development has a budget of €212 million. It is 36% behind expenditure targets as of November. A whopping €54 million has been left unspent in rural Ireland. If we look at the many areas of concern, under the different headings and we go through the list, it does make for depressing reading.
We have 139 Garda stations closed which has resulted in an increase in rural crime of 8%. The figure increased this year to 30,000. We have had four Army barracks closed in Clonmel, Mullingar, Cavan and Castlebar. We had 24 post office closures and 160 bank branches closed. Rural schools are under severe pressure through lack of numbers. We have had ten GP training positions unfilled as rural GP practices just cannot survive. Bus Éireann alone has reduced services by over 100 routes. We have talked in this Chamber, and indeed in the other House, many times about the IDA and visits to rural Ireland. Unfortunately, the evidence is laid bare to date.
I refer also to the issue of rural housing of which I am sure the Minister is aware.
Access to rural housing by people who would like to live where they were reared is becoming increasingly difficult.
I mentioned crime statistics earlier. In regard to Garda stations and Garda numbers, Garda numbers in Athlone are at a critical level. Almost half of the county, which has a population of over 65,000 people, is being policed by one patrol car six nights a week, and it is lucky to have two occupants in that car.
I am heartened that the Minister, Deputy Ring, was born and reared in rural Ireland. I would like to acknowledge some of the recent developments in this area. The Minister referred to the local improvement schemes, the reintroduction of which everybody from rural Ireland has been striving to achieve. I welcome the recent allocations for this scheme and I congratulate the Minister on securing them. This scheme is vital to those who live in remote locations throughout rural Ireland. There is much work to be done in this area. In many ways, rural Ireland is at a crossroads and its future is in the hands of the Minister, Deputy Ring, and the Government. Unless we do something different from what was done before, we will back here next year and the year after discussing this topic.
There is a huge responsibility on the shoulders of the Minister, Deputy Ring, but I have confidence in him. I am confident that he will be able to persuade his Cabinet colleagues that rural Ireland is a critical stage such that unless we have a plan to address the decline therein, it will reach the point of no return. I look forward to more positive announcements from the Minister in regard to this area such that when we are discussing this issue in 12 months, I will have an opportunity to praise him for all of the good work done.
Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Teach. Is deas é a fheiceál. I am delighted that he has responsibility for this portfolio. I have a lot of respect for the Minister. He wears his heart on his sleeve and he gives everything 100%, and God knows we need that for rural Ireland. As mentioned by Senator Gallagher, the Minister is from Westport, which is in rural Ireland. Westport has been one of the leading lights in regard to small towns in Ireland from a tourism perspective and the people working together. Two and two makes a lot more than four in Westport and in terms of what the Minister has achieved. This year's Entrepreneur of the Year is from Westport and he will be representing Ireland in the World Entrepreneur of the Year next May, another significant achievement on which I congratulate the Minister.
I am very positive about rural Ireland, not least because the Minister understands what it is about. That said, I have a number of concerns. The Minister faces significant challenges. In regard to employment, in the past seven years, 27% of households in rural Ireland have lost more than one person to emigration. The percentage in this regard for urban Ireland is less than half that rate. Between 2016 and 2011, rural unemployment increased by 192%. As Senator Gallagher stated, we have a two-tiered economy. The Minister effectively acknowledged this in his opening statement. If anybody is going to do anything to re-align that trend, it will be the Minister, Deputy Ring, and he will have my support and, I am sure, the support of everybody else in this House, in doing so.
In regard to small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, four out of every five, or 80%, of all of the SMEs that closed between 2006 and 2011 were in rural Ireland. There have been lots of plans and lots of strategies, and I note the new strategy contains 227 key objectives. From my perspective, which I admit is a limited perspective, there are a couple of fundamental issues. First, there is no joined-up thinking. This was referenced seven or eight years ago in a CEDRA report. Also, various Departments appear to be working in a silo effect. The Minister mentioned in his opening remarks that he will make a sincere effort to bring about joined-up thinking and to rid us of this silo effect. If we do what we always did, we will get what we always got: a two-tier society in rural Ireland.
In my view, we need effective balanced investment and by this I mean a greater emphasis on the return to communities and Ireland Inc. from investment. For example, IDA Ireland spends four times, or 400%, more of its allocation on job creation than the amount given to Údarás na Gaeltachta, which directly and indirectly, through its support to communities and businesses in the Gaeltachta area, employs 7,500 people. Another key area referred to, including by the Minister, is housing. We need to address the housing crisis. The housing problem in Dublin and some of the other major cities in Ireland has been well highlighted but there are also significant housing problems in rural Ireland. People are finding it almost impossible to get planning permission on sites owned by their parents, grandparents and other relatives. There is need for focus on how people from rural Ireland can be supported to build a house or extend the house in which they live. People have to be number one. I accept there is a need for balance between people and the environment but this issue needs to be challenged. I know that the Minister has the passion, ability and motivation to do that.
I mentioned jobs and one of our greatest successes is the Wild Atlantic Way, in which I know the Minister was actively involved a number of years ago. It was his inspiration, and the inspiration of others, that helped create the Wild Atlantic Way. It works well in the west of Ireland from a tourism perspective, but what about the rest of rural Ireland? We need to look at what type of industries fit particular regions and at how we can develop clusters in those regions. In this regard, we need similar initiatives to the Wild Atlantic Way, which, as I said, the Minister was instrumental in developing and creating. What works in Connemara will not necessarily work in Monaghan, Donegal or Clare.
The Minister mentioned innovation hubs. Last January, I brought together in the AV Room representatives of four innovation hubs, including Ludgate, the purpose of which was to show Deputies and Senators what innovation can achieve such that they would be encouraged to work with Ludgate, Portershed and others on how to go about creating hubs in places like Westport, Castleblayney, Ennis and so on. We can be leaders in our communities to help support the Minister in creating a better rural Ireland. I hope to repeat that exercise next January or February, for which I will be seeking support across the House in terms of attendance and so on. In 2016, some 44% of all the start-ups in Ireland were in Dublin. This is the trend continually despite the fact that 40% of the population is in rural Ireland.
The Minister mentioned broadband, in respect of which there are two factors at play, availability, and connected to that, speed. In my own county, Galway, 53% of the population has broadband. In Dublin, 99% of the population has it. Galway is the third largest city in Ireland. There is a lot of work to be done in this area and it needs the motivation, drive and initiative that I know the Minister, Deputy Ring, has and we will support him in that regard. Other speakers have spoken about schools. In regard to nursing homes, the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, rate for a nursing home in Dublin is in the region of €1,300 but the NTPF rate for Mayo, which is where the Minister comes from, is in the region of €800. I cannot understand why there is an approximately 70% gap in this regard. This is one of the issues on which we need joined-up thinking.
I wholeheartedly support the Minister and am absolutely delighted that he is in this role because I am passionate about it. If any person can achieve results, he will.
I commend Senator Ó Céidigh, who created thousands of jobs in his many different roles and who continues to create jobs. I understand that he has recently established a new business in Connemara, which his daughter is running. The entrepreneurial spirit is with Senator Ó Céidigh and we are fortunate to have his expertise in the House.
I wholeheartedly welcome the Minister, Deputy Ring, in his new capacity as a Cabinet Minister. It is long overdue, if I may say so, and I am absolutely delighted for him. The first time I came across the Minister was when I canvassed for him in the 1994 by-election in Mayo. At the time people were not giving Fine Gael much hope of winning that by-election. Deputy Ring gave great hope when he won the by-election against all the odds, and he continued to do that in his capacity as a Minister of State in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. He reactivated the swimming pool grants scheme and the sports capital grant scheme, which assisted hundreds of sporting organisations in rural Ireland to kick-start capital investment at a time when money was not as plentiful as it is now.
He has now taken on a new challenge of kick-starting parts of rural Ireland that have not necessarily benefited from the upturn. He is doing this is in a focused, strategic and determined manner, with the support of our new Taoiseach and Government. The Minister, Deputy Ring, has been given this role because rural Ireland is in his veins. He knows how it is done. All one need do is look at his home town of Westport to see what has been achieved there in respect of development. Many towns in Ireland would like to emulate what has been achieved in Westport. Time will tell.
I come from County Clare and we are the first county to have a rural development strategy. We have a rural development directorate within the county council. There has been much talk, especially at local authority level, about developing rural Ireland. The Minister has made many different schemes available in his time in the role. It is quite sad to see that some counties do not spend the money they have been given to any large extent. Allocations of funding are made and in some categories the spend might only be 20% or 30%. It is extremely frustrating for a Minister who has been constantly lobbied to make grant aid and money available for projects to see the money unspent at the end of the year. The Minister can only do so much in his capacity as the Minister for Rural and Community Development. There also is an onus on the people down along the food chain to get moving and to use their initiative, be creative and - most importantly - to spend the money they have been allocated.
I had not realised until today that the Charities Regulator also comes under the Minister, Deputy Ring's brief. It makes sense that it should because communities in Ireland are very involved in the charity sector. I believe the regulator is an extremely important development that is badly needed. We have seen the scandals that have taken place in a small minority of charities over the years. The Charities Regulator will bring professionalism and transparency to the whole charity industry. The streamlining of charities is badly needed. There are mass sporting events that are held for charity where thousands of people take part in runs or cycles. While it is great to see people out and about, like anything else it needs to be regulated. The last thing we need is small towns or communities having to accommodate 8,000 to 10,000 participants in a mass sporting event. While these events do have benefits, there are also challenges. I would appreciate the Minister asking the regulator to review the protocols in place with local authorities in dealing with mass sporting events. There are some mass sporting events that have a great history and have been going on for a long time such as the Ring of Kerry cycle. A lot of other events are springing up, however, and I believe it is necessary to have some sort of regulation in order that the good people who are involved get to enjoy it and contribute to the event and that no community feels it is absolutely being taken over and hijacked for a weekend or some time.
The fact that the Minister, Deputy Ring, is the first senior Government Minister with responsibility for rural and community affairs says a lot about the Government's commitment. Looking back over the years, criticism can sometimes be justified in respect of rural Ireland being forgotten. There have been cases of twin development where cities blossomed and rural Ireland was forgotten. Since last June - and prior to that - but especially since this Department was created, a statement is being made about the Government's commitment. It is similar to when the Department of Children and Youth Affairs was established and a senior Minister for children was appointed. We then saw referendums and a lot of development in that area.
I believe we will see significant wins in rural development very quickly. The Minister, Deputy Ring knows that rural Ireland needs quick wins. The money made available last week for the agricultural shows around the State was a significant development. These shows, many of which have been running for decades, are run by volunteers and communities and act as attractions for tourism and so on. For the first time, these agricultural shows will get financial support from the Government. This is the type of joined-up thinking and partnership between government and community groups that will see rural Ireland foster, develop and achieve its potential.
Aside from Athenry, one will never get the likes of Apple or Google employing thousands of people in rural Ireland. We can, however, get thousands of cottage industries employing ten, 20, 30, 50 or 100 people that create everything from food to small crafts and so on. These businesses can be sustainable and can sell the Irish message all over the world. We have seen what can be achieved with joined-up thinking in the Wild Atlantic Way. We see what can be achieved when there is a partnership between community groups and the Government. I believe that if we are here in one or two years' time, we will indeed be praising the Minister for what has been achieved.
All that is left for me to say is to wish the Minister, Deputy Ring, well. He will have our absolute support in this House when it comes to his Department and the good work it is doing. I would appreciate the Minister coming to the House perhaps every three or four months to update Senators on the various projects and schemes he is initiating that will not just revive rural Ireland but will also result in rural Ireland thriving.
I thank the Minister for coming to the House this afternoon. I very much welcome the post and the setting up of the Department of Rural and Community Development. There is a huge expectation around it. While the Minister has €220 million in his budget, I do not believe this is enough to make the changes that are needed in rural Ireland. I believe that amount will only tweak things at the edges. The first mistake made was the inclusion of 227 objectives in the plan. I would rather have seen five objectives. When one has a plan with 227 objectives and actions, it is very difficult to measure in a genuine way what is done - even percentage-wise - and some of these objective may already have happened or be in process. People's expectations of the Department are huge.
The Department, which was established almost six months ago, has not yet been successful in its key role of co-ordinating other Departments to put rural Ireland at the front and centre of all Government policy. I hope there will be a focus on this role so that people can see tangible results. Lottery funds and other bits of money here and there are valuable in themselves, but something very drastic needs to be done across all Departments to stop the decline of rural Ireland. I think all representatives will agree with that. We need to drastically change our approach to rural Ireland. I am worried that even though we have plan after plan, we are not yet seeing such a change on the ground. As a mother of two children, I want to see things happening in rural Ireland. No one is more keen than me to see things being done in a different way.
The first area I will focus on is the delivery of broadband, which would make a massive difference in rural Ireland. We have heard plenty of figures, expectations and announcements. Rural Ireland is suffering from announcement fatigue. We are told that broadband is being given to 100 houses a day or whatever. I need to know that when I get up in the morning, I will be able to send and download emails and do my business from Belmullet. At present, there is no day of the week on which I can get such a guarantee. It is constantly a question of whether I happen to be lucky on the day.
Like many other people, I cannot operate a business from there. The lack of reliable broadband is preventing the creation of hundreds of jobs that could be created in rural Ireland. People want to come back from England, America, Dublin and other parts of the country to set up in rural Ireland. There is no reason people in County Mayo should not be able to operate in a way that allows them to link in and do business with companies in Tokyo, London or anywhere else in the world. This would enable them to bring up their children in rural Ireland, send them to local schools and do everything else that is required. The Minister has acknowledged the importance of volunteering in local communities. All of those things are possible if people can get salaries, wages, incomes and careers in rural Ireland.
Huge opportunities are presented by the transatlantic cable and other things. Broadband is desperately and urgently needed. Every day we are without broadband and proper telecommunications, we are haemorrhaging jobs out of rural Ireland and stifling its growth. National growth is not sustainable without regional growth. The same point can be made about something as basic as mobile phone coverage. I am not even talking about areas like Belmullet; I am talking about estates in Castlebar where people have to go outside the door to make a phone call. For God's sake, we are in 2017. It is not good enough to have to go outside the door and start walking around one's car to make a basic phone call from a mobile phone. This issue needs to be addressed. I know this matter is not the Minister's direct area of responsibility, but it falls under the general category of rural affairs. If we cannot provide the basics, there is no point in giving money to golf clubs, etc.
I welcome the additional funding that has been provided for other infrastructure like roads under the local improvement scheme, LIS. I did not want €10 million to be taken from the Leader programme and put into the LIS. I thought it was wrong to do that, especially because it was announced as new funding. When things are announced, we often find that Peter is being robbed to pay Paul. That has to stop. There needs to be new investment in rural Ireland, just as there is in other parts of the country. LIS funding is impossible for people to understand. I know of people with dire illnesses and multiple medical conditions who have to use helicopter services to get to hospital. They cannot get out of their houses. Ambulances cannot get in. After this debate has finished, I will tell the Minister who they are. Medical staff cannot get into the houses of people who have paid property tax and every other tax under the sun. They do not have access because the roads have not been repaired.
Much better co-ordination between central and local government is needed. When we contact local authorities after great announcements have been made to ask whether certain roads can be done, the answer we receive is "No, that is not done, and this is here and this is there". Elected members of local authorities need to have a say in where this money goes. It should not be divvied out at the discretion of the chief executives of local authorities. We must stop eroding the powers of our elected representatives. There needs to be a direct line. When funding is announced, it should be clarified whether the money in question is new money or money that has been shifted from one place to another. The roads that are most in need should get done, and people with medical conditions should be given priority in that context.
I would like to speak about access to health in rural areas. There is no point in allocating little bits of money. In County Mayo alone, over 500 children with disabilities are waiting for the physiotherapy or occupational therapy they need. It is not right that parents, family members and children have to go through such delays. It is a rural issue because delays on the same scale are not happening in other areas. We have to consider these issues as rural issues. The accident and emergency department in Mayo General Hospital does not have the staffing levels required to meet the needs of seriously sick people with physical and mental health problems who come in the door. The staff who are working in the hospital at the moment are run off their feet. There is no point in putting in people who have just qualified. We need people with qualifications and experience. There are unacceptable waiting lists for treatment right across the board in rural Ireland.
I have much more I would like to say. I look forward to the Minister's return to the House with the review. Something drastic is needed to address the issues in rural Ireland. I want to be positive about rural Ireland. Like many others, I want to continue to live in rural Ireland. I want to see it grow and develop. We cannot continue with the two-tier growth that is evident at the moment. There is an unemployment rate of 21% in some rural areas. As the Minister will know, it reaches 35% in some parts of County Mayo. When I come in here every day, I listen to people saying we are in a full employment situation. Such lies need to be stopped. We need to face the truth and deal with these problems.
I apologise on behalf of Senator Grace O'Sullivan, who will be joining the new committee. She is not able to be here because she is stuck in transit at the moment. I thank the Minister for his speech, in which he displayed his passionate and detailed approach to all facets of life in our communities and in rural Ireland. When we consider these issues, it is important to look at all facets of what it means to be able to lead lives that are full of opportunities. People in rural areas should be able to enjoy as many aspects of life as people in the rest of Ireland. Far too often, the opportunities of people in rural communities have been constrained.
I will not speak in detail about the issues that have been touched on by previous speakers. The concerns in respect of broadband have been articulated clearly and strongly. I would like to add to what has been said about transport concerns by saying there is a lack of awareness of the 17 local link services that are being rolled out in this country. I might return to this issue. As others have said, the post office network, which is one of many networks that have kept all the communities on this island connected and working, is under threat. The great expressions of concern we have heard in this regard need to be reflected in the procurement decisions that are made in individual Departments. I refer, for example, to decisions on driving licences and television licences. There needs to be a long-term guarantee that social protection payments will continue to be made through our post offices.
Those issues are being treated separately when, in fact, they comprise a composite issue in respect of which joined-up thinking is required with regard to whether we will have credible hubs for local services and for the State's engagement with citizens. Post offices have a role to play in this. I ask the Minister to deal with a core issue, namely, the need to examine public procurement policies and look at how we use State moneys to ensure that the best and most appropriate benefits are obtained. He and his Department are very well positioned to do this. One cannot reserve contracts for particular contractors, but there is still a question of recognising a qualitative aspect of procurement, namely, whether something creates additional benefits for societies and economies at local level.
An example to which the Minister referred in this regard relates to the investment in libraries. It is a source of great regret that the way in which the book-purchasing contract for libraries was rolled out precluded them from buying books from local bookshops or booksellers. This is what I mean when I refer to joined-up thinking. We need to have a discussion about public procurement policy - we have the scope to do this within the parameters of European regulations - in the interests of ensuring that we are using the most economically advantageous model and that we are taking account of qualitative as well as lowest-price indicators. It is very much within the Minister's power to identify those qualitative indicators and bring them to the fore.
Another area of concern - this does not quite relate to procurement but, rather, to a new dynamic in contracting - arises in respect of our network of community development services. Local development companies and community development services throughout the country - not just those in rural areas but also those in urban locations - have had a very difficult time. Invisible factors, namely, the 80-10-10 rule and other rules, often constrain the community development services in terms of the work they might have done previously in developing the social fabric because such a large portion of their energies have, at times, needed to be redirected towards employment and training. This has meant that many services for younger people and older people and those simply dedicated to keeping the fabric of communities healthy and vibrant have fallen away. In that climate, there is increasing concern about SICAP funding and other forms of funding. There is also concern regarding the fact that there is now a dynamic whereby competitive tendering processes are driving out some of the established services. I know that there are a number of services involved and I do not have a rosy-eyed view of every single one. I know, however, that there are very important community development services that really need to be considered. We need to look at these organisations and listen to the concerns they have been flagging for a long period regarding how stretched their services are and their capacity to be free to respond to community needs as they arise.
As we are now operating in a different economic climate and have different goals, I urge the Minister to bring together the community developments services from rural and urban areas and listen and talk to them about what they need to maintain the fabric of communities. This issue also relates to the RAPID programme and family resource centres. These make up the web that allows us to maintain a healthy country in which people can live proper lives. We need to ensure that we listen to those involved in terms of what it is that communities need in order to flourish.
I wish to address a number of other matters. One of these relates to services for older people. These services have also fallen somewhat by the wayside and the capacity relating to them has been diminished because the pressure has so often been on working age payments. There are certainly concerns when it comes to older people. Services such as wheels are essential in the context of keeping people connected. Again, the postal service has a key role to play, not just in respect of post offices but also in the context of keeping people connected by means of postal deliveries. Our transport networks are vital in ensuring that older people can lead full and dignified lives and participate in their communities. There is also a wider debate - I am sure the Minister will contribute to it - regarding appropriate home care services. We know that some of those who need care are also, in some cases, contributing at the same time. Older people, for example, have been the lifeblood of much of our volunteering network in this country.
In light of the time constraints, I will conclude my contribution by focusing on two issues. I would like the Minister to address the matter of the citizens information service network. I ask him to examine the transcripts of the discussions in which the Joint Committee on Employment Affairs and Social Protection has engaged on this matter. I am of the view that we are looking at measures that will endanger the very independence and community ethos of our citizens information service. I refer the Minister to the joint committee's report on this issue and ask him to place it on his agenda.
My very final point concerns youth unemployment which is, as others here have indicated, a huge issue. I worked with young unemployed people in rural County Wexford in the past. The south-east region and the midlands have the highest rates of unemployment in the country, coming in at more than 8% higher than the national average. At the time, I campaigned with those young people for a rural pilot of the European Youth Guarantee. There had already been a pilot project in an urban setting, but the challenges faced by young people seeking employment, education and training in rural settings are quite different. The State could really benefit from the piloting of a high investment project in order that we might learn from it.
I welcome the Minister. When the Department of Rural and Community Development was established last July and he was appointed, we all felt it to be a massive boost for rural Ireland. In fairness, the Minister very much epitomises all that is good about rural Ireland. I congratulate him on being a champion for both rural Ireland and the west over many years. The consolidation into a new Department of the policies and supports for community and rural development has provided the means for a greater focus on making communities more vibrant and sustainable. Significantly, the Department also has a critical interface with the community and voluntary sector. In this regard, it provides a key conduit for Government in its relationships with this sector. The Department administers a wide range of programmes to support rural and community development, including the town and village renewal scheme; the CLÁR programme; the Leader programme; the RAPID programme; and the SICAP programme.
The Department has certainly hit the ground running. In the past few months alone, there has been major investment across a range of areas. As the Minister said, €17.5 million has been allocated to local authorities under the local improvement schemes this year in order to support the improvement of non-public rural roads. I joined Roscommon County Council in 1999. Local improvement schemes were a huge part of that local authority's work. I saw people who had no access to their houses until those roads were improved. Due to the position regarding funding, that scheme had to be curtailed. In recent years, however, we have been able to catch up again and this second round of funding is very important. I know that when people come to my house or my office, they are absolutely delighted to hear that there will be another chance they may be able to drive up to their houses in the future without damaging their cars. This scheme is sustainable and comes at a reasonable cost to the home owner.
Significant funding has also been provided in order to protect the elderly, with €2.3 million being allocated for a new senior alert scheme. This week there was an investment of €800,000 to support 120 agricultural shows throughout the country. This money takes account of the fact that smaller shows have struggled significantly in recent years. I am familiar with these smaller shows. I have seen them in Elphin, Strokestown, Boyle, Ballinamore and many other places and I know what they offer. They provide the social event of the year and bring the people of the town and the local area together. These shows have struggled because there are fewer pubs, shops, restaurants and businesses around to sponsor them. Representatives of those shows could hardly believe it when they heard last Friday that they were each to receive an allocation of €7,000. They were absolutely delighted. This money will go towards subsidising the shows in what are very difficult times.
There has also been an increase in funding for the hugely popular town and village renewal scheme. The allocation in this regard has been increased by €3 million up to a total of €15 million. This will be of benefit to hundreds of rural communities.
Funding for the outdoor recreation scheme has also increased by €4 million to €11.5 million. The scheme provides greenways for local people and families to use, which can also attract visitors and jobs to the local areas.
Between 1999 and 2000, I was involved in Lough Key Forest Park. I was chairperson of the action group, and that is what got me involved in politics. We worked extremely hard and we got a grant from Europe which helped, and we made it a major tourist attraction. It is absolutely flying, but we need more infrastructure.
I helped the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Naughten, open a fishing stand last Friday, 1 December. That shows we have an all-year climate. When I went to school, I was told we had a temperate climate. I did not believe it until I went to eastern Europe and felt the Siberian wind coming through it. I realised then that the Gulf Stream meant we had a temperate climate. The infrastructure being put in place for all these things is vital for the tourist industry.
I congratulate the Minister and thank him for the work he has done. I know that he will not accept "No" as an answer from the Taoiseach or during budget negotiations because he is able to fistfight in the trenches for rural Ireland. I wish him every success.
I welcome the Minister to the House and wish him and his Department well in the job they are doing. I join Senator Feighan in thanking him for the funding that he made available to 116 agricultural shows around the country. One of those was in fact a show in my own parish of Inniscarra. It was very pleased to receive that funding, and it was important to it. A huge voluntary effort is made by people working in that area. Over a period of 30 years, sports facilities have been built up in the area in one block of 46 acres, including rugby, GAA, soccer and camogie pitches, a community centre and a pitch and putt course. These have all been made possible as a result of voluntary effort over the past 30 or 35 years, and they service a huge population in the immediate area. When those volunteers started 35 years ago, there was very little support at local authority or national level. The sports grants announced last week, together with the moneys announced for shows this week, are of benefit to all the organisations and the people working in them on a voluntary basis.
We are facing major challenges in rural Ireland in many ways, and we need to deal with those challenges. I am particularly concerned about elderly people living on their own who do not have sufficient public transport available to them. I find that the big challenge for older people is that many older couples have an income from their pensions of over €400 a week but find it difficult to live on that amount. If one of them dies, the money decreases to €250 a week, and it is a huge change and challenge for people. If public transport is not available to them, they can become very reliant on help and assistance from neighbours. It is important that we give support to voluntary groups that work in rural areas.
I recently spoke to someone whose work involves visiting farmers in rural areas. That person found that a large number of those farmers were elderly but were working and living on their own. We face a challenge regarding health care for these people. It is fine to say that we want more home help hours, and I believe firmly in that, but it is important to know whether we will have sufficient numbers of people to provide that level of care so that people can continue to live in their own local areas.
We are making much progress, but we need to make much more. In particular, we need to have progress on broadband. If rural areas have broadband access, more families will live and work and raise their families there without necessarily having to travel to the big city. We are now seeing a change occurring, where many people who work in the city or town two or three days a week are able to work from home on the other days. That is something that will develop and grow over the next number of years, but in order to do that, people need the necessary infrastructure, particularly broadband. It is one of the things we need to prioritise and push forward at a very fast pace. It is important that is given priority.
We face many challenges. We are making a lot of progress when it comes to facilities for people who are visiting this country. The evidence of that is the growth in numbers, despite the drop in the numbers coming from the UK. I presume that is tied into the devaluation of sterling. The figures announced last month show that there is an overall growth rate in the number of tourists still coming here, despite the drop in numbers from the UK. That is welcome, but in order to bring people in, we need to have the facilities and infrastructure, and we need to make sure that the people who are providing the support for the tourist industry are given the necessary commitment, both at local and national level. They need to know that we are on their side and want them to continue to improve and grow the services they are offering.
I thank the Minister and wish him well in his portfolio. I am sure, as my colleague has said, that he will not be take "No" for an answer when it comes to the areas he feels need to be prioritised in this very important Department.
I thank the Members for their support, their comments and their constructive suggestions this evening. All of us are united in wanting the best future for our rural and urban communities around the country. That is the reason my Department was established by the Taoiseach in July. It is the fundamental objective of my Department, and I am confident that with this strong mandate we will achieve much.
I will respond to some of the issues raised by the Senators. I will not be able to respond to them all. Senator Gallagher mentioned the action plan. I have tried to make the action plan framework stretch across Government. My job is to make sure that every Government decision and every Minister is accountable to me at the Cabinet table. That is what I am there for, and why the Department was set up. I have my own functions, delegation powers and budget, but at the same time I have to make sure that every Minister is accountable to me at the Cabinet and also to rural Ireland. That is the job I have to do. People will say that I will get blamed for everything negative but will not get any credit for anything that is positive. That is fine.
The senior alert scheme was mentioned. That scheme has worked very well. Senator Higgins also raised the issue and spoke about the campaign about community. She is correct in what she said. I launched the senior alert scheme in October and there was a tremendous response to it, simply because we went out and advertised the scheme. Today, I had to put a further €400,000 into the scheme because it is such a success. I compliment everybody involved, including those in my own Department and those in Pobal. We went out on the road to publicise it, and I am sure many elderly people are feeling safer at home tonight because they have that scheme.
Senator Ó Céidigh has gone, but I thank him for his kind comments. He is somebody who really understands rural life and business. He created many jobs over the years and worked very hard to try to keep rural Ireland alive. I compliment him on his comments. He is very job-orientated, and he is correct to say that if we are going to have people living and working in rural Ireland, we have to create jobs and infrastructure. We must try to help the families that are going to live in rural Ireland. Senator Ó Céidigh has been doing that all his life, and has tried to ensure that people are kept in employment in rural areas.
Senator Conway-Walsh comes from my area, and she knows what we have done over the past year.
I will not give the Senator a history lesson tonight. The Wild Atlantic Way, the greenways and the announcement regarding Ballycroy National Park last week will all help to create jobs.
To address some of the issues Senator Conway-Walsh raised, she is quite right on broadband. It is the most important piece of infrastructure we need in rural Ireland. Broadband is needed. In my Department, I have only one role and part to play in the matter. We put funding in place to ensure that there was a dedicated officer in every county council. That person is there to help overcome any difficulties when the broadband team rolls into town, whether they have to do with opening roads, dealing with the county council or dealing with the State agencies. They ensure that there is a common plan across the country so that we can get the teams in and develop the infrastructure. I will give the Senator a few figures. I know she is being critical of broadband not coming quickly enough. Of course I would like to see it coming faster. I would like to see it in many more parts of rural Ireland. To be fair, there has been €2.5 billion of commercial investment in broadband in recent years. Some €1.6 million is spent on broadband every day.
The Senator does not hear from the people who are getting broadband. Why would she? They are happy when they get it. She only hears from the people who do not have it, as do I. It is my job, the Senator's job and everybody else's job to make sure that the commercial companies are brought in and roll out the broadband as quickly as possible. The State also will be obliged to subsidise and intervene where the commercial companies will not operate. Of course the companies will take the low-hanging fruit and the most profitable areas available. They will not go into the places the Senator and I would like them to. We are going to have to set up a tender process and subsidise the roll-out. We will have to put it out for public procurement. Senator Higgins spoke about public procurement and I will speak about that in respect of the social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, in a minute. Public procurement must be carried out or we will end up in the High Court as we did in the past in respect of the mobile phone licence. We do not want that to happen. I want to see broadband giving people opportunities.
Senator Conway-Walsh also mentioned the local improvement schemes, LIS. I will tell the Senator quite directly that another Minister was in another Department for 17 months and he did not deliver. I have only been in my office since July and I already have spent €17 million on the LIS. I will put in on the record of this House that I challenge the other Department to match my funding for next year. I will also challenge the local authorities because they actually charge us to administer the LIS. Even though their staff are getting paid on the ground, they still charge the Department to administer that scheme. They should be taking some money out of the rates they receive and putting it into the LIS. If we had a three-way game, more money would be going into the LIS.
The Senator is correct. Many people are paying their water charges because they have to. They have their own water supplies and have to pay into their own schemes. They pay their property tax and their other taxes. They are entitled to have a road into their homes. That is why I set up the LIS. The Senator criticised me. I will not say "criticise" as that is not fair. She made a comment about me taking money out of Leader and putting it into LIS.
I was doing my job.
The Senator would have a bigger problem with me if that money was unspent at the end of the year. I am not to blame. The Leader companies are. We made 31 changes to the Leader programme. I want to see it implemented. I want to see more jobs created and to see that funding put into community organisation, businesses, hubs and job creation. I do not want to see the companies sitting around, as they are now doing. Today we have made our 500th approval in respect of the Leader programme. It is beginning to happen. I expect more to happen next year and the year after. Others have criticised me about the Leader programme but everybody knows - and the Senator was involved in the community sector herself - that it takes two years to wrap up the Leader programme by the time applicants get their approval and start drawing down the money. The money is there. There was €40 million available last year. It was not drawn down and I had to look at ways and means of ensuring that money did not go back to the Exchequer. That is what I am at.
I am very proud of setting up the LIS. People talked about it. At a recent committee I reminded my Independent colleagues in the Dáil that they have an Independent colleague who knows a lot about rural Ireland and knows that the LIS has certainly been a valuable scheme. I will continue it again next year. It will not be funded with money taken out of any other scheme. It is in a programme that I will be announce early in the new year. I hope the local authorities will draw it down together with any further funding we may have. We will welcome any funding local authorities, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport or anybody else wishes to contribute to the LIS. I have now set up the scheme and I hope they will all contribute to it.
The Senator is quite correct on jobs. Take the hub in Belmullet for example. Senator Ó Céidigh also talked about the issue. I have not always been the biggest fan of Údarás na Gaeltachta but in recent years it has got its act together and is now doing a fine job. It is doing fine work in job creation. Senator Ó Céidigh is quite correct, it does not get the funding the IDA or other State agencies get. I will look at how it can assist and help me with some of my schemes. As Senator Conway mentioned, funding for some schemes has not been drawn down by local authorities. I might look at ways and means in which Údarás na Gaeltachta, the Leader companies or some other State agencies such as the Western Development Commission might be able to administer these schemes. If councils are telling me they do not have enough staff or resources, I must look at other ways to roll out these schemes.
Senator Higgins spoke about communities. She is quite correct. Communities are very important, as is volunteerism. Many Members spoke but none mentioned the funding of €1,000 to €3,000 I gave to towns involved in the Tidy Towns competition, as well as the €4,000 given to bigger towns involved. Next year is the 60th year of that competition. That funding is not grant aid to the Tidy Towns competition. It is a commitment to, and funding for, every town, village and community in this country. That money will be spent in the local village. It will be spent in the local community for the betterment of the community and of society. I want to put my thanks to the Tidy Towns committees across the country on the record of the Seanad. They do work the State does not. We see these committees in Belmullet, Westport, Belcarra and all across the country. I was recently down in Cork meeting with such a group. There were 30 or 40 there waiting for me. They were so proud of the place where they lived. If we could get that community spirit in every corner of this country we would not have many difficulties.
Senator Higgins mentioned the seniors alert scheme. I am glad to say that we launched it on 19 October. We had a great campaign and 2,650 people have already made applications and have been approved. I had to put a further €400,000 into the scheme this week. I was delighted to do so because it means that our senior citizens will at least get the pendants, whether for their hands or their necks, and will feel safe in their own homes. I am delighted to do that.
The Senator also talked about public procurement in respect of SICAP. I will read this for her: "In accordance with the Public Spending Code, legal advice, good practice internationally and in order to ensure the optimum delivery of services to clients, SICAP is subject to a public procurement process". There is nothing I can do. I do not disagree with what she is saying. Whether it is in respect of SICAP or any of these community schemes, she is quite correct. I saw it myself in inner city Dublin. I saw the community coming out. I saw people with young children teaching them how to read, how to write and how to do whatever they had to do in society. I want to see these schemes working. This is a job I have been given in government. There are many organisations drawing down from the same pool. There are organisations which need a bit of funding, help and support. Where they are working, I want that work to continue. Where they are not working, we have to look at them and at other ways to provide services.
The community remit is being transferred to me from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection in January. Of course I will talk to my officials about ways in which funding, whether for RAPID, for SICAP or for community programmes, can be targeted at the areas where it is required. There are many such areas and it is not only a rural issue. It is an urban issue as well. We have both. In urban areas all over this country we have very serious and difficult problems.
Senators raised many other issues. We talked about rural post offices and we talked about broadband. The Government recently decided to make €30 million available to post offices. It is a big challenge. I want to put it on the record that post offices will not close if people use them. I put that on the record of the Dáil or the Seanad at every opportunity I get. Many people do not use post offices. The only time they stand in a post office is when there is a protest. The Government has to look at ways in which we can support post offices. The Senator is quite correct on the social protection contract. That contract has been given to the post offices. We need to look at other services. While I acknowledge that An Post has come to the Government with plans and will be coming with future plans, it must look at other business models to help. We want to keep as many post offices as possible open. I say that against myself. Some post offices have 20 or 25 transactions a week and they will not stay open. There are other post offices which could be kept open if they got a small bit of support, a bit of back-up and a few more services. It is not an urban problem or a rural problem, but both. There are rural post offices and urban post offices. Both are needed. I do not know the difference between urban and rural anymore because of the way in which society is changing.
I think I covered everyone who spoke. Senator Colm Burke talked about broadband and tourism.
Tourism is a big issue, particularly in rural Ireland, and that is everywhere whether it is the midlands, the Border counties, or the west.
What infrastructure did we put in place for the Wild Atlantic Way? None; the infrastructure was there. We had the best infrastructure in this country. What we did was to go out and promote it. We put up a few signs and some signature points. We got the communities to buy in along with the tourism sector. We got everyone to buy in and that is why it is so successful.
Ireland's Ancient East is another proposition that we looked at. Again, communities bought into it. They saw a market there for themselves. Fáilte Ireland is now doing a plan for the midlands. The midlands have something unique and we need to be able to promote it and sell it.
It is similar to the position with communities. The Government cannot do everything for everybody if communities themselves are not out there working and supporting one another. One can see it in the sports capital programme and in the CLÁR programme, and in the town and village scheme, which is one of the better schemes we have introduced in the last year.
We talked about hubs. Senator Ó Céidigh referred to them. Look at Drumshanbo. Senator Feighan knows about this because he was there when we opened a brilliant enterprise, where we had given them €700,000. The day we were there was fantastic. Someone in the tourism sector told me that there are now thousands of people there every week. It has lifted Drumshanbo. We have now given them €1 million to bring the project into Leitrim village and Ballyshannon. It will open the towns and villages and keep people working in rural Ireland.
The more investment we can target the better. Senator Conway-Walsh referred to this. It is about money and we must make sure that the infrastructure is in place. The Gort to Tuam bypass has lifted that area and we need to continue it to the N5, from Tuam to Claremorris, down into Sligo and up into Letterkenny. We have to open up the north west. The Atlantic economic corridor is something in which I have a big interest. We must get our infrastructure in place to ensure that we can compete with the east coast. It is important that we get jobs into the regions. The first quarterly report for the CSO said that 77% of jobs created this year were created in rural Ireland. We need to spread them out more, get more jobs into rural Ireland, get more infrastructure and get them the supports and the help they need to create jobs because jobs keep people, they keep schools, shops and post offices. That is what it is all about. It is my job at Government level to make every Minister accountable to me, to Government and to rural Ireland.
I thank the Minister. I do not think that anyone could accuse him of not knowing his brief.
That concludes statements on community and rural development. When is it proposed that we sit again?
At 10.30 a.m. tomorrow.
The Seanad adjourned at 6.33 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 6 December 2017.