Vol. 936 No. 3
48. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if her Department will be introducing legislation to give effect to the objectives set out in the Action Plan for Rural Development; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4137/17]
Will the Minister of State's Department be introducing legislation to give effect to the objectives set out in the Action Plan for Rural Development, and will he make a statement on this matter?
Realising our Rural Potential, the Government's Action Plan for Rural Development, was launched on Monday, 23 January in Ballymahon, County Longford. The plan is a whole-of-Government initiative and contains over 270 actions across five related pillars to be delivered by Departments, State agencies and other groups. The plan will support sustainable communities, support enterprise and employment, maximise our rural and recreation potential, foster culture and creativity, and improve rural connectivity.
The action plan does not, in itself, require legislation to be implemented.
Many of its objectives, including increasing employment in rural areas, protecting vital local services, revitalising rural towns and villages, and ensuring that all homes and businesses are connected to broadband, will be achieved through targeted programmes and policy implementation. Where legislation is required to implement any individual action, it will be a matter for the responsible Department to progress that legislation.
The action plan was launched with great fanfare, which conjured up the image of an interventionist Government. How does the Minister of State square this promised interventionist approach by the Government to revive rural life in the coming years with the simultaneous threat being posed to the future of Bus Éireann in a matter of a few short weeks? Transport was mentioned three times at the publicity launch of the plan while it is mentioned 39 times in the Minister's action plan itself. The responsibility of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and of the National Transport Authority are cited in the context of delivering improvements in rural transport connectivity. What faith can we have in these promises in the context of what has taken place in Bus Éireann? The Government is standing over the threat to slash the wages and conditions of 2,500 members and even the threat to the very future of the company itself.
As the Deputy knows, Bus Éireann is a semi-State company and this is a matter for its management. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross, has said rural services will be protected and he has responsibility for transport. The Department to which the Deputy put down the question has no responsibility in relation to Bus Éireann. However, we are very much involved in rural transport. The Minister has said there will be no cuts to rural services and I accept his word.
I raised some of these questions with the Taoiseach last week under promised legislation and he said, rather contemptuously, that it was never the intention that every single town and village in the entire country would be provided with transport. He also said, however, that the Government would endeavour to ensure that where there is connectivity at the moment with Bus Éireann, such connectivity will remain notwithstanding cuts in that company. I put it to the Minister of State that this is a very loose formulation which allows for a situation in which the four to six connections a day Bus Éireann might provide to a town or village can be blown out of the water by Mr. Hernan and the management of Bus Éireann with the sanction of the Minister, Deputy Ross, and the Government. They will then get some private operator to connect to the town once a day. Is the Minister of State prepared to give a commitment that any single service of Bus Éireann's which might be cut, albeit that none should be, will be replaced bus for bus and journey by journey and that one connection will not replace five or six in any given day?
I cannot give any such guarantee. I am not the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and I am not the chief executive of Bus Éireann. I note, however, that a commitment has been given that no community will be left without a public service. It must be remembered that in my own area we have many private sector providers doing a great job on rural transport. I have many companies in north Mayo where we would not have a service if we were depending on Bus Éireann or anybody else. That service is being provided by the private sector and we are delighted to have it. The providers work with the Department of Social Protection and people can use their free travel passes. I hope these services will continue. As I say, the Government has given a commitment that no community will be left without a service. However, I cannot speak for Bus Éireann. I do not have the authority. I am not the Minister and I am not the chief executive of Bus Éireann.
49. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs her views on the management of the National Museum of Ireland. [4174/17]
I thought long and hard before raising this question because I do not seek to cast aspersions on any individual in the National Museum of Ireland. I had hoped the Department would grab the bull by the horns on this issue and fix it. However, that has not been the case. Even though we have very good people in the museum and a new chair is on the board and trying to fix it, there are still massive difficulties. The National Museum of Ireland is limping along, hampered and hammered by dysfunction with regard to HR crises over the last 15 years. From the information I have received, it seems the Department does not want to get involved to fix it.
The National Cultural Institutions Act 1997 establishes the National Museum of Ireland as an autonomous body. As Minister, I have no involvement in the day-to-day running of the National Museum of Ireland. Section 29 of the Act provides that the director of the museum shall carry on, manage and control generally the administration and business of the museum and perform such other functions as may be determined by the board. The code of practice for the governance of State bodies as published in 2016 sets out the key functions which all State boards should fulfil including reviewing and guiding strategic direction and major plans of action, risk management policies and procedures, annual budgets and business plans, setting performance objectives, monitoring, implementation and State body performance and overseeing major capital expenditure and investment decisions. A board is required to promote the capacity of the State body, including the capability of its leadership and staff, and is also responsible for holding the CEO and senior management to account for the effective performance of their responsibilities.
The National Museum is a valuable part of the cultural heritage of the State. Like all cultural institutions, it suffered during the economic difficulties of recent years, but is now looking to prepare for the future in a strategic fashion. I have been pleased to have been able to increase the resources provided to the board in recent years. The museum has also commissioned a master plan to provide for its future development. This should be a valuable contribution to steering the museum's development in the years to come. I appointed a new board to the museum in June 2016 under a dynamic new chair, Catherine Heaney, and I am confident it has a wide range of skills to address the challenges facing the museum and to ensure that the staff and management continue to deliver an excellent service to the public across the museum's four locations.
I understand that two finance staff of the museum, including the former financial manager, have taken personal injuries cases to the High Court for bullying within the National Museum of Ireland and that these cases were settled out of court by the museum. A finance manager was made redundant recently and the finance department of the museum is now populated mostly with agency staff. It is not good enough for the Minister to build a paper wall between herself and the National Museum of Ireland because this is costing money. Approximately €3,500 is spent every week on agency staff in the finance department alone. Only one member of the finance staff is left there. We also know that over the past number of years a large number of reports and agencies have been involved and that has cost the State massive money. What has been the cost of this dysfunction within the National Museum of Ireland and how many protected disclosures have been received from the National Museum of Ireland by the Minister? Is the Minister happy, given that there is no financial manager there, that the correct governance and financial oversight is in place within the operation?
I am very satisfied that the correct governance is in place. A board is in place providing oversight. I cannot interfere with those functions of the museum which are properly those of the board and the director. I cannot get involved in the day-to-day running of the museum. It is not my job to do it and I do not intend to do it. The HR issues to which the Deputy refers are a day-to-day matter for the board and the management of the National Museum of Ireland as an autonomous body.
The new board is in place and I keep in contact with the chair, Catherine Heaney. She is very committed to working to address all of the challenges facing the museum. The museum is not limping along by any means. It welcomed 3.6 million visitors to its four sites last year while 5.5 million visits were made to the National Museum of Ireland website and social media platforms. I note that 10,000 records were placed online while 420,000 people took part in the museum's learning programmes. The museum mounted a wide programme of events including the production of "Pals: the Irish at Gallipoli" with 400 performances seen by 12,000 visitors. It is a very busy place and it is doing well.
I am not casting aspersions. There are some great people there doing great work.
The fact is that I received an internal HR report through an FOI request. It measured six key areas with regard to the level of management. In those areas, the report stated the services were well below average and there were clear psycho-social risks within the workplace in five separate areas, namely, management support, peer support, relationships, role and respondents. The respondents reported in the bottom 20% possible. Some 15% of respondents working there felt things were starting to improve and 18% felt that senior management was trying to do its best.
The report goes on and on, and is damning. It states that many agencies have been in and around the National Museum over the past number of years trying to resolve these issues. I would like to know how much has been spent on those agencies. Will the Minister confirm that a well-known agency dealing with sexual misconduct was employed by the National Museum of Ireland over the past ten to 15 years?
There are really good people there with lots of energy. Imagine if they were liberated by proper management within the National Museum. Imagine the opportunities this country would have if these issues were fixed. It is not good enough for the Minister to hide behind a wall. She should bring these people in, fix the problem and make sure we have a National Museum to be proud of.
It is a matter for the board and management of the museum. I am not going to get involved in the day-to-day running of the museum. It is independent in that respect. I understand the chair of the board has been in contact with the Deputy and is keen for engagement, as are the members of the Oireachtas joint committee, in terms of addressing future developments at the museum.
It will not be fixed.
50. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the amount of new money that will be used to fund the Action Plan for Rural Development. [4173/17]
This question refers to new money in the rural development plan. The Minister of State, Deputy Ring, did a great job in impersonating an Opposition Deputy when he told us what the Department needed to fix the problems. He has correctly identified what we need. The only thing he did not identify were the funds required. Over the past eight years we have had an investment famine in this country. Ireland is second from the bottom in Europe with regard to infrastructural investment. That is why there has been corrosion in the infrastructure of rural Ireland. This question seeks to find out what the Minister will do to address the infrastructural famine in terms of real investment.
This is the first plan of its kind to take a cohesive and co-ordinated approach across the whole of Government to economic and rural development. Over the three-year period of the Action Plan for Rural Development, the Government will invest a significant level of funding in programmes which will support rural Ireland. Many of the funding components are new, or have only been announced in recent weeks, in anticipation of the action plan being published.
Examples of new investments include up to €60 million over the next three years to rejuvenate over 600 rural towns and villages; a doubling of funding for flood risk schemes to €100 million per annum by 2021; €6 million for investment in the development of blueways; €10 million will be invested in our national parks and nature reserves; and a €10 million, or 50%, increase in funding under the SEAI’s better energy communities programme, which will total €30 million for 2017. Other important measures in the action plan include the recruitment of 3,200 new gardaí over the next four years; the introduction of a new community CCTV grant scheme; significant investment in the seniors alert scheme; and the provision of 50,000 apprenticeships nationwide by 2020. The details of funding for these, and other new initiatives, will be a matter for the relevant Minister.
As far as my Department is concerned, funding for regional and rural programmes has increased from a figure of €61.2 million in 2016 to €79.2 million in 2017, an increase of 29%. It is important to bear in mind, however, that many of the commitments in the action plan involve new policy initiatives which will not necessarily require additional funding to have a positive impact, for example the development of a new and effective framework for rural-proofing Government policies or the development, for the first time, of a national policy on social enterprise.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
These new measures will complement existing programmes which are referenced in the action plan, such as the €4 billion rural development programme 2014-2020 or the €275 million initial allocation to the national broadband plan. These programmes are referenced in the action plan because they will clearly play an important part in the Government’s approach to rural development.
The great lie that this Government has managed to spin over the past number of years is that the economic crisis is over. The truth is that the economic crisis has been rolled into a 40 year debt. Every year this State spends about €7 billion just to service the interest on that debt, a situation which will continue until about 2050. That €7 billion invisibly robs this generation and the next of the ability to invest in the infrastructure we need.
It seems that the Minister is seeking to be the Minister for the loaves and the fishes because she is spreading €60 million around 600 towns and villages. The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport said secondary roads alone need €3 billion to bring them up to the required standard. We can contrast the €6 billion that is necessary with the €60 million that is so-called new money. It is not new money, rather it was press-released to death in the budget months ago. This is money that has already been declared. I ask the Minister to identify the necessary funds to take this issue seriously.
The €60 million for investment in towns and villages to which the Deputy referred is only one aspect of this plan. There are many other aspects to it and billions of euro are being invested in rural Ireland. The Deputy referred to roads and infrastructure. They are a matter for the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. There are commitments in the plan regarding rural and regional roads. Other programs such as Leader and CAP are included in the plan. They provide vital support for rural communities and, in particular, areas outside our towns and villages. We have to include schemes that support rural development in an action plan for rural development. Some announcements may already have been made.
This is a co-ordinated approach to rural Ireland. We had consultation and the CEDRA report. This is what we were asked for, namely, a cohesive plan for rural Ireland and that we all work together. The 2016 commemorations were very successful because everybody worked together and it was a plan in which communities could get involved. That is what made it the success it was. This is the same.
I agree that the 1916 commemorations were successful. They got off to a jittery start, it is fair to say, and the Opposition made a good job of putting a light on the Government to pull up its socks.
The Minister cannot say roads are a matter for the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport while at the same time stating the report is a whole-of-Government report. We are able to criticise some elements but not others.
The Minister said there is a long list of actions in the report but many are reheated or aspirational actions with no funding or anchor with regard to performance indicators. Many are fluff, to be honest. Some of the statements could be filed under different categories. The report could contain statements such as "The Minister will engage with people in an effort to see if, where possible, to look into a discussion leading to prepare a plan that would endeavour to set up a committee to commission a report to do something in the future".
In our pre-budget submission, Sinn Féin identified €1.2 billion of new money for infrastructural spend, compared to the €300 million that Fine Gael identified. We did this under exactly the same European fiscal rules structures. It is possible, if one has the ambition, determination and ideology, to get the money necessary to fix the problem. Where will the money come from?
Last week, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, announced a 9% increase in the allocation for local and regional roads. The Minister of State at that Department, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, opened the sports capital programme with €30 million available nationwide. The Deputy will, as do I, appreciate the significance of the sports capital programme to local clubs across the country.
The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Leo Varadkar, allocated an additional 500 places for the rural social scheme.
There is a lot in that but what is also important is that I will be monitoring the monthly progress on this report and a six-monthly report will be made available to the public for everyone to see what has been achieved and measure the progress to date. There is also the Cabinet committee that is chaired by the Taoiseach, so every Minister will be held to account. It is not a matter of setting out the actions and nothing happening. The Action Plan for Jobs was a very successful plan and I hope that this plan will be even more successful.
52. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the way in which her Department proposes to oversee and monitor the implementation of actions to support the post office network arising out of the report of the post office renewal board and the post office hub working group as outlined in point 20 of the Action Plan for Rural Development; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4246/17]
We are all aware of the importance of the post office as a key part of the infrastructure of rural villages and towns throughout the country. Often they stand alone as the last bastion or outpost and as a place for the provision of communal services where people, especially the elderly, can come to meet and discuss matters. We have numerous reports, including the Kerr report, the report of the post office hub working group and the McKinsey report, and are now suffocating in a sea of vague commitments but nothing concrete has happened to date. Will the Minister put an end to the prevailing uncertainty and seize the initiative? We know what is required which is to recognise the social value of the post office network to the people of rural Ireland.
The post office network business development group, chaired by Mr. Bobby Kerr, was established in late 2014 to examine the potential for additional Government business as well as commercial business to be transacted through the post office network. The final report of the group was published in January 2016.
On foot of the report, two working groups were established to progress the recommendations arising from the report of the business development group. These were the post office network renewal implementation group, chaired by Mr. Kerr, and the post office hub working group, which I chaired.
The network renewal group examined a number of issues relating to the post office network, including the number and spatial distribution of post offices, branch modernisation, the streamlining of products and services, and postmaster contracts. Mr. Kerr submitted his final report to An Post on 23 December last.
The role of the post office hub working group was to identify potential models under which the post offices could act as community hubs, especially in rural areas. This working group has completed its work and final drafting changes are currently being made to the group’s report. I will make this report available to the Government as soon as possible.
The recommendations arising out of these reports will be considered by the board of An Post and the Government and I anticipate that a number of firm actions will be agreed for delivery by An Post and my Department as well as, potentially, other Departments.
These actions will be monitored on an ongoing basis by my Department through its direct engagement in delivery as well as through the processes which are being put in place to monitor the implementation of the Action Plan for Rural Development as a whole. A monitoring committee, which will be chaired by the Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys, will meet regularly to monitor the progress of each of the actions in the plan. The monitoring committee will include the key stakeholders from relevant public bodies as well as business and rural interests. Progress reports will be published every six months.
I thank the Minister of State for the extensive reply and do not doubt his bona fides. However, would the Minister of State agree that having the provision of financial services at its core is essential to the survival of the post office network? My colleague, Deputy Burton, as Minister, was a strong advocate of the basic payment account system. She also advocated the potential of the German Sparkasse model for the development of public banks, which could be integrated into this, along with the credit union movement. Surely some liaison could be struck that would ensure that services are available to rural people. There is a huge deficit, if not a dearth, of banking services, particularly for the elderly. The banks disgraced themselves with the way they treated individuals throughout the country, but they disgraced themselves even more so with the way they treated communities in the country. As the Minister of State knows, they closed everything. They ran away and left the Government carrying the can and this is the one way Government can redress the situation. It is absolutely essential that there is a provision of services. In the context of the McKinsey report, is that part of the core recommendation? As I understand it, although I may have taken him up wrong, Mr. McRedmond recently stated that we should perhaps consider having full banking services rather than just the basic payment account.
Deputy Penrose is a plain speaking man. To outline the situation, I put a lot of work into this over the past six months and was hoping to have the report ready for Government before Christmas. I do not have statutory responsibility for An Post, but I have been given the role by Government to see what can be done to improve the services. Mr. Kerr gave his report to An Post on 23 December. I met Mr. Kerr as well as representatives from the Irish Postmasters' Union and, on Thursday morning, I will meet Mr. McRedmond again.
I will tell the Deputy what I am doing and I will put it on the record today. I will arrange to meet with representatives from the Irish Postmasters' Union, Mr. McRedmond, who I will meet this Thursday, and my officials next week. Certain proposals have been made by Mr. Kerr and the Department is also making proposals and I hope that we can reach agreement on them.
Deputy Penrose spoke about the basic payments and community banking. Deputy Burton has tabled a question on the matter also. The Government has committed to and is examining this.
At every opportunity I get, I am like Deputy Penrose, that is, straight talking. There is no point having rural post offices if people do not use them. I listened to and watched people that never stood in a post office out protesting. They are great for protesting. They will come out when there is a protest but if they had to get a few stamps they would go into town and not get them in the local post office. I hope that we can get agreement when this report is done and that the rural community will support the post offices.
I concur. As the part-owner of a rural shop, the rush of people out of rural villages into large towns is a scandal. They bypass everything. I will not participate in any protest about any of those services - post office or otherwise - because if people used them they would be under less threat. I put it to the Minister of State that the final Kerr report is, no doubt, an excellent report and I have no doubt that the Department, among others, had a good input into it. However, is the secret here not that the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, and those in his Department are recalcitrant? They have no interest in advancing this matter and the Minister of State has an awful fight on his hands. I know it. I am plain speaking as well and I may as well be doubly plain speaking with the Minister of State because he understands it. He was not brought up with a silver spoon. I know the way the Minister for Finance and those in his Department work because I saw it with the Bankruptcy Bill. They can put blockages where even a magician would not put a blockage. That is what they are doing. I know what the Minister of State faces. Get the Minister for Finance and his officials together and we will make rural Ireland survive with the help of the people, but the rural communities better get off their butts as well and stop complaining and looking for a protest. We have enough of that racket going on throughout the country. I am not part of that protest movement. It is part of an action movement we should be.
An action plan for rural Ireland.
I have never been in that Department but I see that Deputy Burton is smiling. She was very close to those in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and knows that what Deputy Penrose is saying is correct. I will do my best. I must say that the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, has given me great support as has the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe. However, when I bring this to Government is when I will know if I have real support. I can tell the Deputy one thing, which is that I am waiting now to try to reach a resolution between An Post and the postmasters. I will bring it to Government and I have no doubt that the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, will support me. I hope many of my colleagues will also. We have a plan but we will need a few euros. I have no doubt that the Department and the Government will not be found wanting.
I hope the Minister of State is right.
54. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the extent to which she hopes to maximise opportunities for the development of the arts and a greater awareness of heritage and economic opportunities likely to arise therefrom arising from the recently announced Action Plan for Rural Development; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4133/17]
The purpose of this question is to ascertain the extent to which it is intended in the Action Plan for Rural Development to utilise the arts and our heritage as a means of improving our economic opportunities in the years ahead.
The Action Plan for Rural Development is the first whole-of-Government strategy aimed at people living and working in rural Ireland. It aims to unlock the potential of rural Ireland through a framework of supports at national and local level which will ensure that people who live in rural Ireland have increased opportunities for employment locally and access to public services and social networks that support a high quality of life.
The action plan is an overarching structure for the co-ordination and implementation of initiatives right across Government which will benefit rural Ireland.
It takes a cohesive and co-ordinated approach across the whole of Government to the implementation of economic and social policies that impact on rural communities. The plan contains 276 actions which aim to improve the economic and social fabric of rural Ireland spread across five pillars. Arts and heritage are covered under the fourth pillar of the plan, fostering culture and creativity in rural communities. The key objectives of this pillar are to increase access to the arts and enhance cultural facilities in rural communities, further develop and enhance culture and creativity in rural Ireland through the establishment of culture teams and creativity hubs as part of the Creative Ireland programme and promote the Irish language as a key resource in Gaeltacht and other rural communities. These objectives will be delivered as part of the work programme across my Department, in particular, as part of the Creative Ireland programme which the Taoiseach and I launched in December.
I thank the Minister for her reply. To what extent does she expect to be able to ensure all Departments are cohesive and co-operate in their support for the various objectives set out in the rural action plan? Does she envisage that its objectives will be achieved within a reasonable period?
The answer to the Deputy's second question is "Yes". The plan contains 276 time-bound actions, with responsibility for each action assigned to a relevant Department and-or agency. Implementation of the actions will be monitored closely and progress reports will be published every six months on the delivery of each action and the addition of new actions in response to new challenges and opportunities.
The former GAA Kerry footballer, Mr. Pat Spillane, was appointed as an ambassador for the action plan for rural development. Mr. Spillane previously acted as chair of the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas, known as CEDRA. The ambassador will assist in communicating the messages in the plan and work to engage local communities in its delivery. Mr. Spillane will also be a member of the monitoring committee which will oversee the implementation of the action plan. The Cabinet committee on rural affairs will also meet regularly and I will monitor the implementation of the plan monthly. Progress reports will also be published every six months.
Will a specific Department play an integral part in delivering services at local level? With whom does one correspond to achieve progress, particularly if a number of interdependent agencies are involved? Will it be possible, after the first six months, to initiate reviews every three months given that the focus will be on planning in the first six months, at which point the operation of the action plan will take over and this will require closer and shorter-term monitoring?
I work closely with local authorities through which we have rolled out the town and village enhancement scheme and the Clár and rural recreation programmes. We will continue to work with them in implementing the action plan. This will be important as they are often the key to local communities. The plan takes a ground-up approach in which communities will devise plans based on what will work best in their locality. They will then present their plans to their respective local authority which will, in turn, submit applications to the Department. This approach has worked well in the town and village enhancement and Clár programmes. People have told me the funding provided under the town and village scheme has been very useful and the scheme has benefited a number of projects across the country.
I assure the Deputy that the plan will be closely monitored. In addition to the monitoring committee, the Cabinet committee on rural affairs chaired by the Taoiseach will also monitor it. We will all be held to account to ensure the plan is implemented.
55. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the progress of the investigation of the establishment of a public banking system here by her department; the likely timeframe of the investigation; the stakeholders involved; the way in which interested parties can make a submission to the investigation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4074/17]
62. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the progress of the investigation of the establishment of a public banking system here by her Department; the likely timeframe of the investigation; the stakeholders involved; the way in which interested parties can make a submission to the investigation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4244/17]
Where are the proposals for a Sparkasse type banking system? When will a pilot of local banking for rural Ireland be introduced in counties Longford, Westmeath, Offaly and Laois based on the German Sparkasse model? I am disappointed that almost no progress has been made on this project and that it was not specifically included in the rural action plan, apart from a nod towards examining the issue again.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 55 and 62 together.
A Programme for a Partnership Government envisages that An Post, the League of Credit Unions and other interested stakeholders will be asked to investigate and propose a new model of community banking, such as the Kiwibank model in New Zealand, which could be delivered through the post office network. The programme for Government also includes a commitment to investigate the German Sparkasse model for the development of local public banks that operate within well defined regions. The role of my Department in this matter will be to work with other Departments and stakeholders to examine the feasibility of these and potentially other models.
Senior officials from my Department have met their counterparts in the Department of Finance and are developing a work programme to examine the potential of the Sparkasse model and other models of local public banking, as referenced in A Programme for a Partnership Government. It is anticipated that this work will be concluded by the middle of the year. It is envisaged that a consultation exercise with relevant stakeholders will be undertaken as part of the work programme. These stakeholders will include, for example, the Irish League of Credit Unions and other parties with a particular interest in the community banking model.
My Department has already received a submission from Irish Rural Link on the Sparkasse banking model and this is being considered by my Department as part of the work programme with the Department of Finance. Other parties interested in making a submission can write to my Department at any stage. While my Department is facilitating the process of progressing the commitment in the programme for Government on this particular matter, wider policy responsibility for public banking falls under the remit of the Department of Finance.
In earlier exchanges, we heard about the imbalance in development between the east coast and the broad Dublin region, which nowadays extends from Dundalk to Wexford and as far west as south County Kildare. Since the Second World War, a model of local banking used in rural areas and small towns in Germany has provided small and medium enterprises with basic access to capital. Sparkasse has done considerable work in Ireland and recently held a seminar in the RDS explaining the model and the assistance they were prepared to provide. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, is a friend of the German finance Minister, Mr. Wolfgang Schäuble, who is in favour of the Sparkasse model. We are being offered assistance in respect of a type of banking that is not available here. We just spoke about the demise of post offices and difficulties with a number of credit unions. Why not use this golden opportunity to create a financial structure that would service rural areas, particularly small and medium enterprises?
It is clear the economic recovery has been unbalanced. While the greater Dublin region and multinational export sector have been experiencing growth, the recovery in the Border, midlands and west, BMW, region is undermined when agricultural enterprises and other small and medium enterprises lose access to the financial system. Will a pilot scheme for the Sparkasse model be introduced? County Westmeath, which I represent, is ready, willing and committed to adopt a pilot scheme for the BMW region. Is it not the case that with the demise of building societies and the withdrawal of bank branches across the country, human intelligence and knowledge of business in the BMW region have been replaced with algorithms and remote banking, which have no interest or stake in the community?
We are facing the challenge of Brexit. Action 23 of the rural action plan refers to investigating the potential of the German Sparkasse model. If that is the case, why have Sparkasse or Kiwibanks not been included as a responsible body in the plan? The Departments of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and Finance, An Post and the Irish League of Credit Unions are involved. Surely the rural action plan presented an ideal opportunity to have these banks included in the overall responsible body.
Credit is crucial as it is the lifeblood of rural enterprise.
We have had this huge problem with regard to credit in rural areas for many years. The commercial banks have been retreating from rural areas, purposely to retain their businesses in the large towns. They have been facilitated in doing this through the Government's creation of two pillar banks. Some 90% of business is done with the two pillar banks. The Government created an oligopoly whereby the banks can determine the level of service, the price of service and the location of service. We have huge opportunities with regard to the post offices, the credit unions and the public banking system, or Sparkasse, but the Government has not acted on this in any way.
I have spoken to senior people within the regulation space in the credit unions in this country and they have said that the reason they are not given extra banking powers is because the Government does not believe in its ability to govern that extra strength. If that space does not exist, the logic is that the Government would create the supports necessary for the credit unions to fulfil it. The Sparkasse has massive space, about 40%, of this sector in Germany. It is illogical why it is not being used here.
There is an action in the plan to support credit unions. To be fair, credit unions have done an excellent job down through the years. I am a supporter of the credit union movement.
Not in action.
There is support for them. There will be engagement with them the context of this plan. The Sparkasse model and post office models will also be examined.
In regard to a point raised earlier, 72% of all jobs created in 2016 were created outside Dublin. There are many people in this country who are creating thousands of jobs throughout the country who are forgotten about in the context of the jobs being created by large companies such as Google and so on. They should be thanked and complimented for the work they are doing. In my own town, the Hughes family who create many thousands of jobs, recently purchased Westport House, thereby securing its future. I welcome that.
I saw a lovely picture recently of the Minister of State outside Westport Hotel.
The Minister of State, Deputy Ring, is in a very important position to take a leadership role in terms of completing the talking and starting the action. We know the post offices are in difficulty, notwithstanding huge efforts which I made when Minister for Social Protection to ensure that they retained a large slice of business via the Department of Social Protection. We know that the credit union model needs to make changes to become a more viable people-local community banking service, including in regard to the provision of basic bank accounts. We know also that the Department of Finance, be it the Minister or the senior officials, is cold on the idea of local community based banking, yet the Taoiseach's favourite model is the viable local banking structure, Sparkasse, which operates throughout villages and towns in rural regions of Germany. I call on the Minister of State to grasp the opportunity to give leadership on this issue.
It is not the case that a public banking system would be not-for-profit or be restricted to lending to the regional economy for its business. Post offices and credit unions could earn additional income from the sale of public banking services across the counter via their branches. Is it not the case that the public banking system would be a more suitable place for the credit union movement to invest the €9 billion which it has identified it wishes to lend to SMEs and, through another medium, provide them with much needed administrative support to meet the ever-burdensome Central Bank regulation system?
My colleague, Deputy Burton, referred to the Department of Finance being cold to the credit union movement. The attitude of the Department is below freezing when it comes to anything to do with the public banking system model. It has no interest in it. It is the best I have ever seen at putting on a façade. One would need a rock shifter to get the Department to adopt this system. If this can be done in Germany, it can be done in Ireland. It needs to be done in Ireland.
In response to Deputies Burton and Penrose, I am taking this matter seriously. I am dealing with the post offices. Officials from Germany will be in Ireland on 13 February to meet with my officials. I have met Irish Rural Link and I will meet with the credit union movement and all the other stakeholders involved. In regard to the Department of Finance, I know from experience, in terms of having to engage with officials in relation to funding, just how cold its reception can be.
One could get frostbite.
I am not the greatest supporter of banks. We all know what the banks did to this country. We know also what the country had to do for the banks. We have to be careful about how we deal with this issue. We need to be sure that this model will work. We do not want to use models that in the future the State will have to subsidise or take over if difficulties arise. When we do this, we must do it right. I can assure Deputies Burton and Penrose that I will do all I can in regard to this matter, in respect of which I will certainly have to warm up the Department of Finance. I will do my best and I might need the Deputies' support along the way.
The Minister of State is the right man for the job.
56. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the steps she will take to achieve the increased level of tourism in rural counties as outlined in the action plan for rural development; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4067/17]
I congratulate the Minister on the action plan for rural development, which is a much sought after plan. I welcome the plan but I would welcome more information from the Minister on the proposals to increase the level of tourism in rural counties. I represent the constituency in Sligo-Leitrim, where there is quite an amount of activity in terms of tourism. I believe this plan has great potential for rural areas. What are the Minister's plans in terms of increasing tourism levels in rural counties and what funding will be made available in this regard?
Maximising our rural tourism and recreation potential is one of the key pillars of the Government's action plan for rural development. The plan will act as an overarching structure for the co-ordination and implementation of initiatives across Government that will benefit rural Ireland. Tourism is of key importance to the economic wellbeing of rural Ireland and the sector supports many thousands of jobs in rural areas.
The action plan for rural development recognises the further growth potential that tourism presents for rural communities. It sets out 50 distinct actions designed to maximise our rural tourism and recreation potential. These combined actions aim to increase overseas tourists to rural Ireland by 12% by 2019.
Through the action plan for rural development, we will support job creation through targeted initiatives such as the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland's Ancient East and by developing the potential of Ireland's lakelands. We will promote and increase activity tourism in rural areas through the development of greenways, blueways and other niche tourism products. My Department will fund the rural recreation scheme and the national walks scheme and will develop a public outdoor recreation amenities plan to transform the provision of outdoor recreation facilities on publicly-owned land and waterways. We will also develop and promote our natural and built heritage through capital investment in our national parks and nature reserves, through investment in the Gaeltacht areas and by progressing the designation of additional sites in UNESCO's World Heritage list.
My Department will work closely with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland, the Heritage Council and other key stakeholders around the country, such as Waterways Ireland, Údarás na Gaeltachta and local authorities, to deliver these actions.
Following on from the Minister's reply and her remarks in regard to greenways, I would welcome some clarification from her in regard to the Sligo Greenway Co-operative and the shovel-ready greenway in my constituency which runs from Collooney to Bellaghy, which is a huge area. There is enormous community spirit within Sligo Greenway Co-operative, to which many people have committed themselves over the last number of years. I ask that the Minister consider this project a priority in the context of the Wild Atlantic Way.
The Minister also referred in her reply to tourism officers in the context of the promotion of tourism in the country. Unfortunately, unlike the local authority in the constituency of the Minister of State, Deputy Ring and in many other constituencies, there is no designated tourism officer in Sligo County Council. Is it intended that this will be rectified under the plan? We have many great natural resources in Sligo in terms of it being Yeats country.
We are also talking about the Wild Atlantic Way and what has happened for Sligo and the surrounding areas. With regard to Sligo Greenway Co-op, what can be done to enhance and promote the greenway project and get it started?
We are out of time. Perhaps the Minister could correspond with the Deputy if she does not have a very brief response.
I have a brief one. The matter of the tourism official is a matter for the local authority. Perhaps the Deputy will liaise with the local authority in that regard.
Much work is being done on tourism in counties Sligo and Leitrim. Some €100,000 was made available to the authorities in Carrick-on-Shannon to develop a Taste Leitrim food and enterprise zone. I have seen how successful Taste of Cavan has been. These types of initiatives are very good for boosting the local economy. Some €100,000 was provided to Tubbercurry enterprise centre. The Deputy and others attended the event. Moreover, €200,000 was provided for a mountain biking project in the Ox Mountains. This was a joint project involving Mayo County Council. In total, counties Sligo and Leitrim received almost €4 million in funding from my Department last year to support a range of projects under REDZ, the town and village scheme, CLÁR and the rural recreation scheme. The Deputy mentioned one project in particular but all these initiatives come from the local authorities so it is a matter of working with them to make progress on them.
