Seanad Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 14 Feb 2023

Vol. 291 No. 11

Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters

Departmental Programmes

Senator Robbie Gallagher

The Minister is very welcome to the Chamber this afternoon. A number of years ago the Nuremore Hotel and Country Club in Carrickmacross hit the headlines for hosting Mr. Jack Charlton and the Irish soccer team back in the heady days of the successful Irish soccer teams we used to have. Hopefully, it will not be long before we have such days again. Unfortunately, today the hotel is hitting the headlines for more negative reasons. Central to the local economy of Carrickmacross and regional tourism generation for many years, the venue was purchased by the Kylin Prime Group, an investment firm founded by Chinese entrepreneur Mr. Kai Dai who is one the biggest cash-for-visa brokers and has benefited from the immigrant investor programme, IIP. Mr. Dai founded the Huawen Foundation, a cash-for-visa firm that offers investors an opportunity to avail of Irish residency under the IIP.

In Carrickmacross, hopes were high with regard to the expected investment in the hotel but, unfortunately, no such investment has taken place to date. More seriously, last December, staff staged a sit-in protest because their wages were not being paid on time. They claimed that the issue had been going on for a month but hotel management said that this was due to an issue outside of its control. On 1 January, most of the staff were placed on a temporary 12-week lay off, allegedly to allow renovations to take place. So far, there is no sign of any work taking place. The leisure centre and golf club, which were expected to remain operational, have now closed, leaving members out of pocket. The electricity and gas have apparently been disconnected. SIPTU indicates that the hotel appears to have been closed down and claims that the company is endeavouring to force workers into terminating their own employment by way of redundancy. The avenue for communication with workers appears to have completely shut down, which is very worrying indeed.

The IIP is supposed to bring investment into the State. It soared in popularity in recent years, particularly in 2022, with the number of would-be investors from all countries hitting a record of 812, nearly twice the record set in 2021. The programme should be a win-win for the State. Since 2012, more than 1,500 applications have been approved, with investment valued at in excess of €1 billion. Unfortunately, the experience at the Nuremore Hotel has not been positive. It may be an isolated case but it clearly deserves attention. I spoke to the workers again last week. My heart goes out to them because they are owed three weeks' wages and they are totally insecure as to what the future might hold for them. I am sure the Minister would agree that this situation needs to be resolved. I have a number of questions for the Minister. I ask him to outline how the terms and conditions of the IIP are enforced and who is responsible for the checks that take place. What recourse do the workers and the State have with regard to the situation in Carrickmacross? What is happening is very disappointing. The people of Carrickmacross would like to see this hotel back to its former glory. It would appear to have been going very well and this has come as a bombshell, not just to the workers but to the local economy and the wider region, which depend on this facility for employment and to attract visitors.

I would welcome the Minister's comments this afternoon.

Minister for Justice (Deputy Simon Harris)

I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. As the Senator knows and as I conveyed to the House earlier, it would not be appropriate for me to provide details on or make reference to specific projects but I can only imagine the difficulty and challenges for workers, as Senator Gallagher outlined. I think of them and their families. I understand his request for clarification for them. It seems to me that a number of the issues raised may be relevant for certain labour rights bodies, other organisations, workplace relations and the like.

On the more broad issue, I am pleased that I have been invited to the Seanad today because it is quite significant as regards timing because, as the Senator may be aware, today I obtained approval from Government to close the immigrant investor programme to further applications with effect from close of business, tomorrow, Wednesday, 15 February. The immigrant investor programme was established over a decade ago, during a time of unprecedented economic difficulty, to stimulate investment in Ireland that would be of strategic and public benefit to the State. Since its inception, the programme has brought, as the Senator said, significant investment to Ireland and has been operated by my Department to the highest professional standards. However, it is important that we keep all programmes under review, including any implications for wider public policy, such as the continuing appropriateness and suitability of this scheme for cultural, social and economic use. We have also taken on board a number of reports and findings from international bodies such as the European Commission, the Council of Europe and the OECD on similar investment schemes. Taking all of this into account, and informed by both internal and external reviews, I recommended to Government that it was timely to close the programme to new applications; I received Government agreement to do so this afternoon.

Since its inception, the IIP has approved investment of almost €1.252 billion, which has benefited many enterprises, both economic and social, including community and sporting organisations. The closure of the programme will take effect from close of business tomorrow, Wednesday, 15 February 2023. The closure of the IIP will not affect existing projects or individuals already approved under the programme. Current applications on hand at the time of closure will continue to be processed. In addition, there are a number of projects for which an application has not been formally submitted but have been significantly developed following contact with the IIP unit of the Department of Justice. It is proposed that such projects be given a period of three months in which to finalise and submit formal applications. Otherwise, the scheme will be closed to all new applications from close of business tomorrow, 15 February. Detailed communications will be provided through the immigration service delivery website on the arrangements applicable to the closure and winding down of the scheme. All applicants are subject to, and remaining applications will continue to be subject to, rigorous screening by the Department of Justice as to suitability for permission to enter and reside in the State. The IIP unit undertakes detailed due diligence, politically-exposed persons and sanction checks in respect of prospective applicants, accessing reputable international databases as and when required to ensure that only reputable individuals are eligible for permission. If approved, the applicant makes their actual investment in accordance with their approved application, provides evidence of same and it is only on completion of this process that they are issued with an IIP permission letter and, on registration, a stamp 4 immigration permission. Ireland is in a very different economic space than when the scheme was introduced in 2012. We see many countries around the world reviewing, revising and in some cases deciding to close similar schemes. I will publish details of interim measures on the immigration services website, irishimmigration.ie, in the coming days.

The Government also operates a start-up entrepreneur programme, STEP, also established in 2012, as a way for entrepreneurs with an innovative idea to apply for a residence permission in Ireland. This scheme will continue. I take seriously the issues the Senator raised. I take the opportunity today to outline a pretty significant decision the Government has made in this space. It sounds to me that various issues raised may well be appropriate for a variety of bodies and organisations distinct and separate from the IIP programme. I am happy to link with Senator offline about that matter.

Senator Robbie Gallagher

I thank the Minister for his response. It is news that this investor programme will be closed down as and from tomorrow at the close of business. In more general terms, what motivated that particular decision? My main concern is the workers attached to the hotel and what recourse the State has through the Department of Justice or others in respect of non-compliance with commitments given by the applicant at that time.

I would like to think there is some recourse and to know what that is. The Minister could liaise with his Cabinet colleagues with a view to addressing the workers' concerns regarding their rights. I would really appreciate that and would like the Minister to commit to it this afternoon.

I stressed the importance of the hotel to the local economy of Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, and indeed the whole north east. We are trying to build the tourism product there and need the hotel to remain functioning. I have no doubt that this is the wish of the vast majority of the people of Carrickmacross.

Deputy Simon Harris

I thank the Senator. I will certainly undertake to liaise with appropriate colleagues in the Cabinet, as I know the Senator will do. I will certainly be happy to help facilitate it, as appropriate.

What motivated my decision to seek Government approval to close the immigrant investment programme to new applicants, effective from the close of business tomorrow, Wednesday, 15 February, was very clear, emphatic advice to me from officials in the Department of Justice to the effect that the scheme has served its purpose, that the times have changed and that the context has changed very significantly. Even internationally, the context has changed. I referred in my opening statement to the views of several international organisations, including the OECD, on such immigrant investment programmes. Generally, I feel it is a good idea to decouple the work of investment from matters that my Department has responsibility for. My Department is one that has responsibility for border security, national security and security in a political sense for An Garda Síochána, although it is independent in its operation. It is important that the public policy appropriateness of the continuance of such a scheme is always stress tested. I have landed at the view that it is no longer appropriate to keep the scheme open, effective from tomorrow. I am pleased the Cabinet has agreed to that. I will certainly continue to liaise with the Senator on this issue.

Disability Services

Senator Tom Clonan

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for attending. Given the date that is in it, I hope it will not be a case of there being no love lost between us at the end of the proceedings. I hope to enter this interaction with a solutions-based focus. The reason I am raising this Commencement matter is the problem in recruiting and retaining personal assistants, which I am sure has been brought to the Minister of State's attention. Personal assistants help disabled citizens and the elderly, as part of a home care package, to get them out of bed and live independently and with dignity. Based on my family's experience, there seems to have been a kind of collapse in these services from around 2021. The traditional providers, such as RehabCare and Home Instead, which I mention in a general sense as providers under the existing model, are unable to recruit people. I am conscious that Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, and the Minister for Health have made millions of extra hours available, but the problem is that we cannot get the carers and personal assistants where needed, in people's homes.

Let me outline one of the solutions. The big corporate agencies, including RehabCare, do a great job but there is a one-size-fits-all model predicated on funding going directly to them from the HSE. Ideologically and philosophically within the Department, there is an agreement that we should move towards personalised budgets for families and carers so we can manage our care needs ourselves and do so flexibly. There are several service providers – for example, Home Care Direct and Áiseanna Tacaíochta, the ÁT Newwork – that act as a kind of link between families and carers, and a selection of personal assistants are available to them. On average, the agencies receive between €30 and €35 per hour in funding from the HSE for the carers. Typically, the carers who work for the big traditional providers get paid about €11 or €12 per hour, and that is why it is hard to recruit and retain them.

That amount is barely above the minimum wage. However, the brokerages can pay carers up to €21 or €22 per hour, making them a more attractive proposition. In our house, for example, Eoghan's personal assistance hours for going to college are provided through Home Care Direct. We have no problem getting personal assistants - they are the most amazing people from South Africa and Romania – whereas his home care package, for want of a better expression, is provided through the traditional route and is failing. We have people who have become part of our extended family from Somalia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Korea and China. Without exception, these carers are wonderful people. They are not the problem. The problem is the model of provision. The Minister of State can revert to me if she needs further detail on this matter.

What is missing is a service-level agreement, SLA, between the HSE and brokerages like the Áiseanna Tacaíochta, AT, Network and Home Care Direct. The HSE national change and innovation unit and its national compliance unit have been working on this matter, but they have been doing so for over a year. They could come up with an SLA within weeks that would go a long way towards solving this problem and would have an immediate impact on people like my son and on those who are forced to remain in hospital after surgical procedures instead of returning home to live with their packages. There would be no cost involved. It is just a question of trying to get the HSE to draw up an SLA.

Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Mary Butler)

I thank Senator Clonan for raising this matter. It is my first time taking one of his Commencement matters. I am delighted to do so. We will meet again at 5 p.m. to discuss the Shona Project, so we will speak twice in one day.

The HSE provides a range of assisted living services, including personal assistance, to support individuals in maximising their capacity to live full and independent lives. The HSE National Service Plan 2022 outlined the HSE's commitment to deliver 1.7 million hours of personal assistance services to 2,587 people. This reflected an additional 120,000 hours of personal assistance services in 2022 to expand and enhance supports for people to live self-directed lives in their own communities. The most up-to-date statistics on the delivery of personal assistance shows that service remained steady during quarter 3 of 2022 and was above target by 4.4%. However, the Senator is correct, in that there are ongoing challenges in recruiting staff for disability services and the delivery of personal assistance services. These challenges are being experienced across a range of disciplines and grades in all areas of the health services, including primary care, mental health services, older person services and acute hospitals.

I wish to outline what I did last year with the provision of home care, specifically for older people but also for people with disabilities, mental health issues, etc. I was in an unenviable position as Minister of State, in that, despite having a full budget to provide all the hours we needed - €660 million - last year and an increase to €700 million this year, we had a shortage of staff. Some 56,000 people will receive home care today. Unfortunately, 3,200 people are waiting for home care. It has been funded but we do not have the staff to deliver it. Some 2,900 people have partial as opposed to full care packages.

I put in place a strategic workforce advisory group. It worked with my departmental officials. We engaged with all Departments and stakeholders across the public, private and voluntary sectors. There were 16 recommendations, all of which I took on board. I will set out some of the key ones.

A key recommendation was that we look outside the EU and secure work permits in that regard. On 1 January, 1,000 work permits went live for people living outside the EU to work in Ireland as healthcare workers providing home care. We know this approach works because we took it previously in respect of nursing homes. To date, 2,640 people from outside the EU have come to Ireland on permits to work in the nursing home sector.

Another recommendation relates to a point raised by the Senator. The HSE pays a rate of between €30 and €35 per hour to organisations that supply personal assistance hours, yet the worker only gets €11 or €12. The same situation obtains in home care for older people. One of the key recommendations was that, under the new tender being put in place with the HSE from 1 April to provide home care hours, the person providing the hours through a private company would have to be paid the living wage.

That is the recommendation.

Acting Chairperson (Senator Martin Conway)

The time is up.

Deputy Mary Butler

There is a half-minute left.

Acting Chairperson (Senator Martin Conway)

Apologies. I was premature.

Deputy Mary Butler

They would have to be paid the living wage. They would have to be provided with mileage which the HSE workers get. Notwithstanding that issue, HSE healthcare workers are paid €16.50 an hour and mileage and still it struggles to recruit. We have rolling recruitment campaigns across the nine CHOs at the moment to try to encourage more people to become healthcare workers. I want to make caring a viable career option. I will send on a copy of the strategic workforce advisory group recommendations. They have been welcomed by all. The most important thing now is that they are implement. The biggest one related to permits. They went live on 1 January this year.

In regard to the Senator's specific case, there was a joint in-person workshop entitled Service Continuity and Capacity Recruitment and Retention between the HSE and representatives from the voluntary service provider organisations. The majority of specialised disability provision is delivered through non-statutory sector service providers. We know very well from lived experience how difficult it is to encourage people at the moment to see caring as a viable career option.

Acting Chairperson (Senator Martin Conway)

I apologise for interrupting the Minister of State's flow.

Senator Tom Clonan

I thank the Minister of State for that. What she said about the permits is interesting because when my son's service collapsed in 2021 I tried to get a sense from the different care providers about what the issue was. Initially they thought it might have been Covid-related, which might have had a chilling effect. However that is definitely a positive development. That will help. To reiterate, the model offered by such groups as Home Care Direct is actually working. I know because we had no problem recruiting my son's carers. It is very flexible. The carers are very happy. They are all Garda vetted and qualified. That is provided through the Higher Education Authority but the HSE will not deal with them because there is no service level agreement. All that is required is for them to draw up the service level agreement and then this can be part of that landscape. It will have an immediate, positive effect. There is no cost implication for the Department. This is about trying get the HSE to draw up the service level agreement. If I can assist in any way in regard to introducing someone from the HSE I will. The HSE knows the key stakeholders. It is a matter of exerting some moral pressure in order to get this over the line. I appreciate the Minister of State's comments.

Deputy Mary Butler

I thank Senator Clonan for the way he expressed himself today. We are putting a new tender in place at the moment. It was meant to be in place on 1 January but has now gone out to 1 April. One of the things we are doing, because this was not available for the care of older people previously, is looking at personalised budgets for the first time ever, within the tender. We are also looking at some e-technology supports especially for people with dementia. This is another thing we are exploring. We are trying to think outside the box. Another recommendation of the strategic workforce advisory group was to engage with the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys. Many people who once worked in home care may be willing to go back to it. However, that might mean they would lose their entitlement to a medical card or social protection. We are trying to see if we can encourage people who worked previously to come back and do more.

In regard to the Senator's specific point about the service level agreement between the HSE and the provider who can be hired, I will certainly raise that with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte. It has been raised before. It has been looked at previously. I found that by putting in place the strategic workforce advisory group we set out clear timelines which we reached. Now it is about ensuring that all the asks are not aspirational but that they are put into use. I am hopeful that if 600 or 700 people come in on permits it would almost clear the waiting list. For once it is not an issue in regard to funding. It is an issue relating to staff. I will have a copy of that report for Members this evening.

Acting Chairperson (Senator Martin Conway)

I thank the Minister of State. Senator Clonan raised an important issue. The response was positive and we appreciate that.

Tax Collection

Senator Barry Ward

Cuirim fáilte riomh an Aire Stáit. It is always nice to see my Dún Laoghaire colleague in the Seanad. The issue I am raising is one I know the Minister of State is very well aware of, given he has responsibility for it and he launched a public consultation on these regulations last October, as I understand it. The difficulty I have with what is happening is that those who actually use these cups in their businesses do not really know what is happening. If you look online at the proposal that is involved here, going back to last July the BBC was reporting that this levy was coming in the next couple of months. When the draft regulations were published in October, RTÉ and other media outlets in this country were reporting that it was going to happen. It kind of came as a fait accompli, yet at his stage we do not know, for example, when it is definitely happening, although the Minister of State has said that it will be early next year or by the end of this year, and we do not know exactly what it is going to cover.

Quite apart from the impact this is going to have on businesses, the reality is that, for the most part, we are talking about small businesses. Local coffee shops, small businesses, convenience shops, supermarkets and anybody who sells a hot drink in the course of the day are all going to have to take on this 20-cent levy on a disposable cup used in that context. The chances are this is going to be passed on to the consumer. There are surveys suggesting a substantial number of people - up to a quarter of people - say they will spend less on coffee because of the imposition of this levy. That is not to say levies are not important. We know in this country that it has worked very well in the context of disposable plastic bags.

I have no difficulty with the principle behind this, but the reality is the way it is being done has created, to my mind, two problems. First of all, it is affecting small local businesses in particular, usually one-off shops. I am not talking about large chains with significant capacity to deal with the issue. Those small businesses do not have certainty about what is happening. The second difficulty and the real problem I have with this is the inconsistency of it. It only applies to hot drinks. At the same time that Missy Moops café in Dún Laoghaire will be serving a latte in a disposable cup, across the road in George's Street McDonald's will be serving a Coke in a disposable cup and with the same problems, but it will not have to pay a penny. With this levy, we are putting small businesses in a disadvantageous position relative to massive large multinationals like McDonald's on the other side of the street. There is a terrible inconsistency in this project. It is not about the principle of a levy on products that encourage us to use multiple-use products and to avoid single-use products. I do not have a problem with that. The Minister of State knows that, when I was on the council with him, I put down draft by-laws in Dún Laoghaire to ban single-use plastics. I am very much in favour of that. However, when we put in place a levy like this, we need to know it is going to work and it is not going to pitch one business against the other.

The last question I want to ask is about the actual public consultation. I understand there were 2,371 responses to it. What did they say? Did they point out these problems? Is the Government going to take on board the responses to that public consultation or was this a done deal? Is it something that was already decided? If that is the case, what was the point in having the public consultation? If the Minister of State could bring clarity to this for the businesses and the people in our local community, I would be very grateful.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (Deputy Ossian Smyth)

I thank Senator Ward for raising this matter which, of course, I consider a priority. Ireland's national waste policy, a Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy 2020, sets out Ireland's commitment to tackle the environmental degradation caused by single-use plastics and packaging and includes our ambition to lead EU efforts in dealing with disposable cups through the introduction of a single-use cup levy. An environmental levy on single-use hot cups, commonly referred to as the coffee cup levy, is now being introduced to incentivise people to choose reusable cups and to help reduce single-use waste. The levy will be extended to cold drink cups over time. It is a fact that millions of single-use cups are being sent to landfill or incineration every year in Ireland. The Environmental Protection Agency's latest waste characterisation study indicates coffee cups account for approximately 14,000 tonnes of non-household waste each year, which equates to around 730 million coffee cups every year.

This is an entirely avoidable waste and I want to prevent it occurring by incentivise people to use reusable cups. The levy will operate in much the same way as the existing plastic bag levy that successfully transformed our use of single use plastic bags. Ireland was a world leader in introducing that levy and our use of these bags has fallen by 90% because of the relatively modest charges placed on their use. In the same way, by introducing a levy on single use cups for hot drinks, Ireland can again demonstrate positive leadership in environmental protection. Last year, following the signing of the circular economy Act, I published the draft regulations to introduce an environmental levy on single use disposable cups, together with a comprehensive regulatory impact assessment which is for public consultation. The consultation ran for a period of six weeks during October and November 2022, and provided an important opportunity for all stakeholders to make their views on this important matter known.

The consultation comprised three strands. The first strand targeted members of the public and consumers of takeaway beverages. The second strand targeted retailers or other traders who sell takeaway beverages and will be required to implement the levy. The third and final strand was targeted at all other stakeholders such as businesses operating in the cup manufacturing distribution or related industries, public sector bodies, NGOs and representative bodies.

The Department received a significant volume of responses to this consultation and 2,371 submissions in total were received across all three strands registering a wide range of views on the application of the levy. The summary consultation report was published online by the Department in December and a full report, including copies of all submissions received, will be published shortly. Submissions received are also being used to inform an SME test, recommended by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and shall be published along with the results of the consultation.

Once I have fully assessed the output from the consultation process the regulations will be finalised and submitted to Government for approval before I sign them. In finalising the regulations I will first agree a suitable commencement date with the Revenue Commissioners, as the proposed collection authority. That discussion with the Revenue Commissioners is currently under way and in any event I have committed to giving retailers at least three months from when the regulations are signed before commencement of the levy to ensure adequate preparation time. I will use that time to raise awareness of the levy among the public and among retailers. Want I want people to see is that they do not have to pay a levy because they are using reusable cups and that retailers do not have to charge the levy by providing reusable options for their customers, so it is a win-win.

Senator Barry Ward

I thank the Minister of State and I appreciate what he has done. I do not want to take away from the laudability of the idea behind this scheme but I want to ask three questions. Did the public consultation substantially raise the issues I have raised? I am sure others have raised these issues, particularly the discrepancy between hot and cold drinks, and I respectfully do not think it is enough to say that the cold drink levy will come in due course. Why is it not coming now? Why are we pitching one type of business against another?

Can the Minister of State at least confirm that he accepts this will hit businesses? It is not always feasible for people to have a keep cup or to avail of a reusable cup. Has the Minister of State given proper consideration to the fact we could put in place a system where there are only compostable cups that can be properly recycled? I realise recycling is not the solution and I recognise the huge numbers he is talking about. I do not have a difficulty with that but there are other ways to skin this cat and I wonder if we could do it in a way that does not hit businesses to quite the same extent.

Acting Chairperson (Senator Martin Conway)

We will stick to our iced lattes.

Deputy Ossian Smyth

I assure Senator Ward that the consultation is a genuine exercise. The point of it is that we receive submissions from people who have first-hand, domain expertise because all they do all day is sell coffee or make paper cups or whatever. It would not be right for me to design these things from a desktop point of view. I wait for what comes in and I am surprised by what comes in and then I implement that. To give Senator Ward an idea to compare with, the plastic bag exempts butchers and fishmongers because a person cannot reuse a plastic bag that fish was kept in. There have to be practical implementation details. What about hot and cold drinks? To give the example of Missy Moop’s and McDonalds on the other side of the road, if one goes into McDonalds and orders a coffee from the McCafe they will have to pay the levy. If they go into Missy Moop's and have a coca-cola they will not have to pay a levy there. This applies equally to everybody. Next year of course, cold drinks will be brought in, and later, hamburger and pizza boxes and so on.

Will this hit businesses? No, it will not. Does the plastic bag levy reduce the amount of food people eat? Of course it does not. It will not have a damaging effect on the amount of coffee consumed.

Coffee is an addictive drink and people will continue to buy it in huge quantities. I do not think that cafés will have a problem. Realistically, what will happen is that someone will forget to bring his or her cup. The person will go into a café and will not have his or her KeepCup or reusable cup. There are a number of solutions, apart from paying the levy and getting the single-use cup. A number of options have emerged in other jurisdictions. There are approximately four different versions of cup-sharing schemes, whether that involves putting a deposit on a cup and getting it back later, being a member of a club, getting free coffees when one pays for a cup and so on. There are many alternatives. We will find a way through it, just as we did through the plastic bag levy, and there will be considerable benefits for all. The retailer can stop paying considerable quantities of money for these cups and the consumer will stop having to pay that secret share, because the consumer can use his or her own cup, and the price of coffee will reduce.

Waterways Issues

Senator Fiona O'Loughlin

I appreciate that the Cathaoirleach has selected this matter and that the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, is here to take the Commencement matter. When I was mayor of Kildare, I had the opportunity to launch the consultation on the proposed blueway and how that would have an impact on Kildare. I have taken a keen interest ever since in the development of the blueway and how people are perceiving and using it.

On one of my own regular walkabouts to see what is happening, I was in Rathangan on Friday with Councillor Anne Connolly at the lovely Spencer Bridge. I am glad to say the bridge got funding today to ensure the upkeep of the structure in a proactive manner. Spencer Bridge dates back to 1784. It is on the edge of my home village of Rathangan. That is a beautiful part of Kildare and it is an area of beauty, history and great meaning to local people. The reason I was there on Friday was to see the work going on. Waterways Ireland happened to be there doing work to make sure that the towpath on one side would be ready over the next few months. I believe there will be a tender quite soon with regard to a pedestrian bridge that will go on the other side of Spencer Bridge, to enable people to cross safely from one side to the other.

The work is progressing well and I cannot overstate the importance of this project to the local economy in south Kildare. The Barrow blueway has been identified as a key project. The focus I am talking about is the Barrow line, that is, the canal spur off the Grand Canal. It is 46 km from Lowtown, which is beside Robertstown, right through Kildare, parts of Laois and into Athy. We hope that it will go on to Carlow in the near future. The towns of Robertstown, Rathangan, Monasterevin, Vicarstown and Athy will certainly have great potential to develop businesses. This is a crucial rural area of south Kildare that struggles to attract the amount of tourism it deserves. That is why I fought hard, along with Councillors Connolly and Fitzpatrick, to ensure that the project is advanced.

For those who are familiar with the walk from Lowtown to Glenaree, going on to Rathangan, through Ummeras and into Monasterevin, it is absolutely beautiful. The one thing I will say is that it needs more signage. People who are walking the blueway also need to know the number of kilometres to the next destination. New businesses have started up, such as Dilly Dally, a lovely café between Monasterevin and Athy. Everybody sings its praises and speaks of the lovely, warm welcome they get.

A fully finished and maintained blueway will open this up to new markets and opportunities. People may use it for recreation, sport, cycling, walking, jogging and so on. In 2020, Fáilte Ireland research showed that domestic trips were mainly focused on the outdoors.

It also identified that 87% of Irish people are considering a short break in Ireland within the next 12 months. We want to attract them to Kildare to use the blueway. In a survey of local businesses, as part of the Kildare LEADER research paper, two thirds of local businesses surveyed had an element of tourism provision in their businesses but only 20% could sustain this year-round business. That is a real opportunity for us. The past few years have been difficult with Covid-19 but the number of people who went out and explored their areas, including the blueway and greenway, was fantastic. I have laid out the case for the project clearly, including its strategic and economic value. I know the Minister of State understands it. I hope he has an update for us today, will reassure those businesses and the leisure walkers, that this will be delivered soon and that he will provide a key timeline.

Deputy Ossian Smyth

I thank Senator O'Loughlin for affording me the opportunity to speak about the blueway.

The rural regeneration and development fund was established under the National Development Plan 2018-2027 to provide investment for ambitious projects in towns and villages with populations of fewer than 10,000 people and outlying areas. It will deliver on the national strategic objective of strengthened rural economies and communities and achieve sustainable economic and social development in these areas. The rural regeneration and development fund is pivotal in delivering on the objectives of Our Rural Future: Rural Development Policy 2021-2025, which sets out an ambitious blueprint for realising the enormous potential in our rural towns, villages and communities. To date, funding has been allocated to projects in the areas of town and village regeneration, enterprise development, tourism development, digital and co-working initiatives, libraries and community facilities. Many projects are delivering across a number of sectors such as, for instance, providing libraries, co-working facilities or much needed community facilities in repurposed town sites or previously unused heritage buildings. Projects that have been supported have a strong focus on regeneration, ensuring that our rural towns and villages and the communities and businesses in them will benefit from returning footfall. In that regard, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and I believe the projects completed with the assistance of the fund will deliver significant impacts across rural Ireland, supporting sustainable communities, economic development and job creation and will help to deliver on the long-standing goal of rebalancing growth throughout the regions. In addition, the investment provided will support rural Ireland by providing a much-needed stimulus for the economy in rural areas while also putting in place the necessary facilities to ensure rural towns, villages and communities can prosper over the months and years ahead.

The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, announced the successful projects from the fourth call for category 1 applications to the fund on 10 November 2022. Category 1 relates to large-scale ambitious capital projects that have all necessary planning and other consents in place and are ready to proceed. Funding of €115 million was announced for 23 projects worth a total of €162 million. The scale of this announcement will guarantee that there is a pipeline of ambitious projects that are ready to be delivered over the coming years.

The Barrow blueway project was allocated funding of more than €5 million from the second call for category 1 funding in 2019. The project is developing a 46 km stretch of the Barrow blueway, located along the Grand Canal-Barrow line from Lowtown to Athy in County Kildare, taking in Vicarstown in County Laois. The blueway will be an exciting recreational resource for the communities nearby and visitors to the areas, with the potential to deliver significant tourism and economic benefits while also securing the natural amenities and ecosystem which the canal provides. I understand the project is progressing well and will be completed this year. An example of another transformative project in Athy is the Athy food, drink and skills innovation hub, which was allocated funding of more than €4 million. This project will repurpose a vacant building to deliver a state-of-the-art food, drink and skills innovation hub that will provide a dedicated space for enterprise development, job creation and training in the region. The hub will contribute to the economic regeneration, strengthening and building of resilience in Athy. The rural regeneration and development fund alone has now invested more than €395 million in funding for 215 projects worth a total of €542 million. It is a truly transformative level of funding and will make a real and lasting difference in rural communities throughout Ireland.

Senator Fiona O'Loughlin

I thank the Minister of State. Certainly, the development of the blueways and our waterways is hugely important, especially in inland Ireland and in my case, in Kildare. I already mentioned we should have additional signage with directions and distance in miles and I ask the Minister of State to bring that request back. We also need good mapping and to make it widely available both online and in a physical capacity for those planning journeys.

I also think there should be extra supports for those businesses that wish to develop along the blueway because that will give lifeblood to the areas I mentioned. There are some sporting organisations which are setting up, for example, the Monasterevin Blueway Kayaking Club, which is doing a fantastic job in terms of introducing the waterways to younger and older people. There is a whole wealth of area that we need to explore in terms of business supports and sports supports to enable the huge potential of the blueway. I am very glad it will be completed before the end of the year and I look forward to having clarity on the date.

Deputy Ossian Smyth

I agree with everything the Senator has said. A 46 km free facility which people can use to have a day out with their friends and family at no cost is a huge thing to deliver. It will be very significant and to have 46 km of this is amazing.

My experience of being on the Mayo greenway is that I saw so many people employed along the way, whether in hotels, cafés or restaurants, with bikes and walkers outside them that never would have been there if it was not for that greenway. When we think of how we bring jobs to a rural area, putting in a facility like that is not the first thing we would have thought of. The other thing I noticed on the Mayo greenway was children going to school, so it was not just being used for tourism. Tourism is great and it brings money and people, and that is what people think of with greenways, but it has a sustainable travel benefit, it is safe to use and people are happy with their kids going along that route. This has the addition of being not just a greenway but a blueway as well. As the Senator said, businesses are not going to be just hotels and in hospitality and there will also be canoeing groups and so on.

Regarding signage and mapping, that is something the Senator will need to talk to the local authority about, and it can certainly apply for grants through the sustainable travel fund. With regard to mapping, there are a couple of major online map suppliers and the Senator would need to get in there, contact them and let them know this is coming, so it appears on the map and people can see that it is there. It is going to be a fantastic facility when it is delivered this year.

Acting Chairperson (Senator Martin Conway)

That is great news. I am sure the people in that area and the people of Ireland will be delighted to hear this very good news. Well done to Senator O'Loughlin for raising this important issue.

Cuireadh an Seanad ar fionraí ar 3.22 p.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 3.30 p.m.

Sitting suspended at 3.22 p.m. and resumed at 3.30 p.m.