Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 November 2018
24. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development when decisions will be made on applications made under the rural regeneration and development fund; the number of applications received to date; the funding approved in budget 2019 for the scheme in 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45955/18]
View answerAs I outlined to the Deputy in an earlier reply, the first call for applications for the rural regeneration and development fund closed at the end of September, with 290 applications received. Of these, 125 were for category one shovel-ready projects, while the other 165 were for category two projects, which need development funding to become potential category one applications in future calls for applications. Assessment criteria are published and the applications are now assessed by a project advisory board. The board includes representatives from key Departments and external experts. By the end of this month I am expecting to receive recommendations from the board on the first group of category one projects for funding and I will announce the first tranche of successful category one projects. Further announcements on successful category one and category two projects will follow. Funding of €315 million has been allocated for the fund for the period 2019 to 2022, of which €55 million has been allocated in budget 2019.
Does the Minister agree that it is absolutely vital that approval be given in the near future? In most cases, it takes well over a year for projects to spend. Is the Minister concerned, given the slow rate of approval, that the €55 million will not be spent in 2019 and that there will be a replication of what has happened under the LEADER programme, with money being returned to the Exchequer?
The project advisory board is going through the applications. There are two categories. The Deputy is correct - one of them is projects which are shovel-ready. I expect the board to come back with recommendations on projects that are shovel-ready.
I admire the Minister's hope. Does he recall when Deputy Howlin was Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform?
I do.
He put money aside for a shovel-ready project for a pier on Inis Óirr that had planning permission in 2016. It has not started and it is not likely to start, even next year. I will believe projects are shovel-ready when I see them. What is the Minister's definition of a shovel-ready project? My main doubt is that they are as shovel-ready as the words would seem to imply, that is, that a contractor could be put in tomorrow. The Minister might explain the definition of the projects that are ready to be approved rather than refer to the euphemism "shovel-ready" which has become meaningless.
My definition of "shovel-ready" is that when a project is ready the planning permissions would be in place. I would expect the application to be ready to go if funding is secured for it. That is what I determine to be a shovel-ready project. If those concerned get approval in November and can start drawing down that funding from the first day of January, I would expect them to start that project immediately. What frustrates me with the town and village renewal scheme, the outdoor recreation scheme and every other scheme in the Department is when that does not happen. Local authorities present projects that are ready to go and seek funding for them but 12 months later I may find they have not got planning permission for them, they were not ready to go and there were other projects on which work could have started. This scheme comes under the 2040 plan. It is important to get the money spent as quickly as possible. To answer the Deputy's question regarding a shovel-ready scheme, if a project is approved in November, people should be on site in December.
Is the Minister saying that the projects that will be approved will all have gone to tender and have contractors in place? From the time one advertises a tender, receives and assesses them, get in the necessary bonds, including insurance bonds, and all the other documentation that is required for such projects, one could be talking of a period of five or six months. Will the tenders be in for these projects or will they go for tender after approval?
I do not expect all projects will be ready in terms of having their quotations and tenders done but the scheme refers to shovel-ready projects. If a project is shovel-ready I would expect in a very short period that it would be ready to go. The evaluation team will examine these schemes. We have more projects and I referenced in my reply the number of applications that have been received. We will not have funding for all the schemes, so we will have to make decisions. The evaluation team will examine the schemes that are ready to go and I presume it will check that they have their quotations in, planning approval and that they are ready to go. My understanding of any shovel-ready scheme - I have heard that term used since I came into this House - is one that is ready to go. I hope these projects are ready to go. I do not want to see it happen, and I am sure neither would the Deputy, that allocations are made in November or December and then to hear next July or August that those concerned do not have their tender or planning approval. If that happens, somebody will have to answer to me. As far as I am concerned, there are two categories in this scheme, one is shovel-ready projects and the other is for the projects to be made shovel-ready for the schemes that will be re-announced in March. I cannot put it any fairer than that.
Get your shovel ready.
Don't forget your shovel.
