Before we start, I will be strict on time today. We have already lost almost nine minutes by not having a quorum. We must finish at 12 noon, at which time Standing Orders state questions to the Taoiseach must start.
Priority Questions
RAPID Programme
Éamon Ó Cuív
Ceist:27. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development his policy on the development of the RAPID programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8821/18]
The Minister will agree with me that we often hear about the challenges facing rural communities. However, they pale into utter insignificance when we compare them to the challenges faced by those living in urban disadvantaged areas. I received a call recently from a lady who spoke to me about a school the Taoiseach had visited. Down the street from it will be located a 100-bed rehabilitation unit and the first legal injecting room for illegal drugs in the country. She asked me how the people living in that community could keep their children away from it. What will the Minister do about the RAPID programme or has the Government destroyed it completely?
I launched the new RAPID, revitalising areas by planning, investment and development, programme in November 2017. The programme provides support for groups which are tackling social exclusion and is aimed at improving the quality of life for residents in disadvantaged urban areas and provincial towns across the country.
Under the new programme, funding has been provided on an equal basis for each local authority area. The local community development committees, LCDCs, in conjunction with municipal districts, are responsible for allocating funding to individual projects at local level.
Officials of my Department are carrying out a review of the RADID programme prior to a new launch planned for May. The focus is on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the programme. Feedback has been requested from the LCDCs on specific issues, including whether the scheme should be amalgamated with the communities facilities scheme and whether there should be any change in how funding is allocated to local authority areas.
I expect to receive a report on the review, together with recommendations for proposed changes, by the end of April.
We must be living in the most reviewed country in the world because every time I ask a question here, I am told a review is being done. Will the Minister explain how he can justify giving a town like Ballina the same amount of money as Dublin? I am not belittling the problems in Ballina but is the Minister telling me they compare to the totality of the problems faced in Dublin where just north of the river there are gardaí going around with machine guns trying to keep the peace? From what the Minister is saying, it is not evident that there is any urgency with this. How can he justify giving the city of Dublin, which has huge problems of social disadvantage despite being called a successful city by the Government, the same money he is giving to much smaller provincial towns?
The Deputy will have to respect the fact the scheme was closed for many years until I opened it in November 2017. I accept it was late in the year. I provided €2 million for Dublin and €3.5 million is ring-fenced for Dublin this year for the north inner city.
In the RAPID programme.
Yes, in the RAPID programme. The money is ring-fenced and rightly so. The Deputy is quite correct. I am glad to hear the Deputy say what he has said. There are very serious problems in inner city Dublin, which is where we launched the new programme in November. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and I launched it in Charleville Mall library in the north-east inner city. It was brilliant to see parents and children involved in home learning and other facilities. That is why I gave the €2 million. I divided the rest of the money equally among the local authorities throughout the country. I am reviewing it. The Deputy is correct. I want to be able to give more funding to bigger urban areas rather than the smaller urban areas. That is why I opened the scheme in November. I am very pleased I opened the scheme. It provided €2 million for inner city Dublin and there is €3.5 million ring-fenced for this year. I am pleased the scheme is open. It is a scheme that was closed for a long time and I am glad it is open again because we have a lot of disadvantage in a lot of urban areas around the country.
What specifically will the Minister do for the south inner city area from the south bank of the Liffey down through the Liberties where there are massive problems? There are huge problems and I can put the Minister on to people who will bring him on a walking tour of the area if he does not know what is going on there. Is there any structure that involves the people living in the apartment complexes and housing estates who suffer the greatest social disadvantage? Is there anybody on the committees directing these programmes? If not, they are doomed to failure. We had local representation on the AITs. Can the Minister confirm that the scheme was closed by the last Fine Gael-led Government?
The Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, keeps me well informed about what is happening in inner city Dublin. I have had many meetings with her over the past year and I have dealt with many social problems. We provided some funding at the end of November for some areas that were experiencing serious disadvantage. I know well what is going on in inner city Dublin, which is why we set up the task force. It is why we put extra funding into it this year. It is why we have €3.5 million ring-fenced for the coming year. There are many problems there. When the old programme was in place, it was done by 52 groups which were there from when the RAPID programme was set up. I have now reduced that to 31 groups and have given the funding to local authorities. The local authorities are on the ground and it is the local authority members who understand what is happening and see the deprivation that is there. That is why I gave it to the local authorities and allowed them to make the decisions on the capital funding.
I had a call from Deputy Carol Nolan, who is caught in traffic, so I will move on to Question No. 29 by Deputy Ó Cuív.
Deputy Nolan asked me to take her question.
She cannot ask Deputy Kenny to do that. She has to get the approval of the Ceann Comhairle to do that. If she arrives, we will facilitate her.
CLÁR Programme
Éamon Ó Cuív
Ceist:29. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the developments he is proposing for the CLÁR programme in 2018; and when new elements of this programme will be rolled out in 2018. [8822/18]
Last year there was a massive underspend in the Minister's Department. We seem to be heading the same way because unless the money is out on the ground early in the year it will not all be spent by the end of the year. What developments is the Minister proposing for the CLÁR programme for this year and when will we hear the announcements and calls going out so we actually get the money spent in a timely way?
The CLÁR programme is an important part of the Government’s Action Plan for Rural Development and makes a huge contribution to supporting the most depopulated areas in rural Ireland. Almost 900 projects have been approved for funding since I relaunched the scheme in the second half of 2016.
The programme has funded a range of measures over the past two years, including funding for safety measures for schools and community facilities, play areas and measures to support first responder groups. I intend to launch a new round of CLÁR funding this year and have secured an allocation of €5 million for the programme in my Department's Estimates for 2018. I am currently finalising the details of the measures to be funded this year and hope to be in a position to announce the details of the scheme over the coming weeks.
Does the Minister not agree that for the CLÁR areas and the challenges they face €5 million is a derisory amount of money and shows the lack of importance of the most depopulated of rural areas? When will he announce the programme for this year? January is gone; we are on the threshold of the end of February. The Minister knows that when he announces them it will take two or three months to get the proposal because of the complicated way he is going about his business. Does the Minister believe €5 million is adequate to deal with the challenges in these areas? When will he announce this year's programme and why has it been left? The Minister knew what he had back in October. Why is it that two months of this year are gone and nothing has happened?
I will announce it very shortly. I have written to the local authorities and set out a schedule for the schemes and their timeframes for this year. The Deputy is quite correct on the underspend. I have €5 million again this year. It is a substantial amount of money and I will look to see what I will finally allocate but for now I have €5 million in the budget. The scheme has worked very well, particularly the measures I have introduced. The first responder scheme has worked well. The playgrounds have probably been a bit more difficult because some of them need planning and construction. I am very pleased with the outcome of the spend on the CLÁR programme. It was one of the better schemes that worked.
The Deputy has spoken about the funding. The Deputy, his leader and those in Fianna Fáil have been criticising the funding. In the budget for this year we have €88 million for capital funding. For 2019, we have €141 million. For 2020, we have €150 million. For next year I have a 60% increase in the budget. We have a major capital programme for the next number of years. The CLÁR programme was closed for many years. To be fair, the local authorities did not have the capacity and they did not know what schemes were coming down the line. I recently met representatives of the County and City Management Association and I have put my schedule in writing including when I expect to announce schemes. The local authorities also need to know the funding will be on a continuing basis, which is now guaranteed by the budget for this year and for 2019 and 2020.
An allocation of €5 million works out at about €250,000 per county. Is the Minister telling me that in his county of Mayo, where virtually all of the county is in a CLÁR area except around Castlebar, Westport and Ballina, €250,000 is going to make any difference on the ground? Can he tell me whether he will have access to the €312 million fund that is intended for regeneration to top up the CLÁR fund from 2019 on so that areas other than the big towns will get their fair share of the money? We heard about the fund in the great national plan.
There is a separate scheme for the big towns worth €2 billion. I will set out the priorities of my Department in the coming weeks. I will announce schemes and I will look at new schemes as part of the CLÁR programme. Deputy Ó Cuív asked a question about the CLÁR programme. The programme has worked very well. In my county a number of rural areas are delighted with the playgrounds and other facilities. We have put safety warning signs outside schools in every corner of the country, which have saved the lives of many children. We have provided grant funding for first responder groups. We have also provided grant funding for ambulances and other such facilities. The CLÁR programme is a great one. I will seek further funding to put into it. I like the programme and I will reinvent it. I opened the programme and now that I know we have funding for the future I can start planning to bring in other schemes into the CLÁR programme.
I will give a simple example to Deputy Ó Cuív. I was in Knockananna in rural west Wicklow last week. I funded a small playground there and in a number of other areas. The communities were delighted that they had such facilities and did not need to go to the big towns and cities for them. I am delighted the scheme is working. I am very proud of it and I want to continue to build on it and to try to get further funding for it.
Approval has been given to Deputy Martin Kenny to take the question tabled by Deputy Carol Nolan. He has 30 seconds to introduce his question.
LEADER Programmes Expenditure
Carol Nolan
Ceist:28. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the value of payments to third party Leader project promoters since the launch of the implementation phase of the 2014 to 2020 programme to the end of December 2017; and the way in which this compares to payments made during the first 18 months of the 2007 to 2013 programme in terms of actual moneys paid out and as a percentage of the overall fund. [8820/18]
As the Minister is aware the new Leader programme that began in 2014 and ends in 2020 had a long delay in getting off the ground. It came on stream in 2016 but it has been dogged with huge amounts of bureaucracy and problems for communities that are trying to apply for funding. It seems to be turning into a real mess. We only have two years of the programme left to run. How much money has been spent? It seems to be very low compared to what the commitment is.
Funding arrangements for the current Leader programme from 2014 to 2020 were, for the most part, signed with the local action groups, LAGs, which delivered the programme in the second half of 2016 and the programme effectively became operational from that date. The current Leader programme has an allocation of €250 million over the period to 2020, whereas the previous programme, which covered the period 2007 to 2013, had an allocation of €400 million.
Project expenditure under the current programme to 31 December 2017 amounted to €661,844, or 0.3% of the total fund. I understand that funding agreements under the 2007 to 2013 Leader programme were signed with the LAGs early in 2009. A total of €16 million in project payments, or 4.4% of the total fund, were made during the first 18 months of the 2007 to 2013 programme.
Leader is an EU-wide programme, co-financed by the European Commission. As with any programme of this scale, there is a natural lead-in period for a new programme to become established, for delivery models to be put in place and for the local action groups to issue calls for proposals and work with applicants to refine their plans.
However, the number of project applications approved by the local action groups increased significantly in 2017. In total, 738 Leader projects have now been approved for Leader funding of €20.8 million. A further 318 project applications, requesting over €16 million in funding, are going through the approvals process. Payments will be made to the projects as they become operational and submit payment claims.
Communities that want to do something for their local area such as get a new roof for their small community centre or communities that want to provide other facilities around the country apply for funding and are faced with huge amounts of bureaucracy and they run into problems. The situation is catastrophic. That is reflected in the payments that are being made. No money was spent in the first two years of the programme. Since then a trickle of money has begun to be paid. There are only two years left in the programme. How will it be possible to spend €200 million in two years? It just does not seem logical that it is possible to do it given the way the process has worked up to now. I know the Minister will do his best to try to get the money spent and I appreciate that but it is not happening on the ground for communities. Since the local authorities became involved in the process the brakes have been applied all of a sudden and nothing has moved since then. Some reflection is needed on where this process has brought us.
I agree with Deputy Kenny. I want to see the money being spent. I want to see the programme in operation. I want local action groups to approve schemes. There is no delay in the Department and I guarantee that once the payments are required they will be made. It takes a while to identify schemes. The companies get involved and the schemes are approved and payment is made once the work is done. Deputy Kenny knows how the scheme operates.
I recently signed off on schemes in Waterford and Carlow. There were five halls in Carlow and there were hubs in Waterford. Deputy Kenny knows they will not happen overnight and that it will take time to develop them and for them to draw down the funding. I want the Leader money to be spent.
We met the Leader companies last May and we made 31 changes to reduce bureaucracy. We made it easier for companies to make applications. There are only two measures involved in making an application and the problems seem to arise after that. I want to see the money spent and going into rural areas. I want to see the companies working. It is in my interest to see Leader working, as it is in the interest of Deputy Kenny, but the companies must also make it happen. I have brought in the Leader companies and talked to them and they are happy with the changes that have been made. I am looking to see if further changes are required in addition to the 31 changes we have already made. Deputy Kenny is aware that Leader is an EU-wide programme and we must comply with the rules and regulations set out.
It seems there was a big problem from the outset given that 31 changes were required to make the scheme easier to access. We all know it is European funding and that there is a culture of ten people checking the work that has been done rather than ten people doing work. That is one of the problems, namely, that there is so much bureaucracy, boxes to be ticked and nonsense attached to much of the funding. I worked in the sector for years and I know the kind of stupidity that goes on, for example, photocopying something ten times and sending it off and then getting it back and photocopying it again. There is a culture of creating paperwork rather than going out and spending the blinking money on the ground where it needs to be spent.
I appreciate that the Minister brought in the Leader companies and that he tried to get the changes made. Perhaps there are no more changes to be made but since the local authorities were given a role in the process the system has gone askew. That must be recognised.
I made a 55% reduction in the paperwork. I have listened to the groups and people on the ground. I wanted to make the changes and I did so. We are reviewing the system on a daily basis but there is only so much I can do, that the Government can do or that the Department can do. The Leader companies have been given the responsibility and they have to roll out the scheme. They are the ones that have to talk to the people on the ground and they will have to deal with the Department. We have done our job. Nobody is telling me there is a serious problem in relation to bureaucracy. We have made it easier to make applications.
How will the money be spent in two years?
The Minister should be allowed to respond.
Deputy Kenny knows why it takes two years. One will not build a hall overnight and regardless of the facility it takes time to build it and then the receipts have to be returned in order to draw down the money. There must be checks and balances.
Dog Breeding Industry
Paul Murphy
Ceist:30. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if he will review legislation relating to dog breeding establishments in view of recent cases of welfare issues in some large establishments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7154/18]
To its shame, Ireland is the puppy farming capital of Europe. Some estimates put it at 100,000 puppies a year. The breeding conditions often operate on an industrial scale in battery conditions similar to battery pigs or battery chickens.
It is really horrific. Huge profits are being made from horrific animal cruelty, which was exposed in a "Panorama" programme almost two years ago. What action will the Government take to clamp down on this cruelty and stop this industrial-scale breeding?
I thank Deputy Paul Murphy for the question.
The Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2010 sets out a framework for the regulation of dog-breeding establishments, requiring local authorities to establish and maintain registers of such establishments in their areas and prohibiting the operation of unregistered ones. Section 15 of the Act provides that the Minister may issue guidelines in regard to the operation of these establishments. The current guidelines have been in place since 2012 and are being revised. A public consultation process took place in 2017 and a consultation summary report, which provides a summary of submissions received and sets out the next steps, has now been published on my Department's website.
While the focus is currently on developing the revised guidelines, broader issues relating to dog welfare were also raised in the course of the public consultation, including the need to amend the Dog Breeding Establishments Act. Amendments to the legislation, if necessary, will be progressed once the guidelines are finalised. I expect to have the new guidelines ready for my approval in second quarter of this year.
More generally, the enforcement of animal welfare standards for all animals, including dogs, is a matter for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine under the Animal Health and Welfare Acts. Both Departments work closely with each other to ensure a co-ordinated approach is taken in this area.
I originally put this question to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine but it was redirected to the Department of the Minister of State, for whatever reason.
Has the Minister of State watched the "Panorama" programme and noted what was displayed? Possibly the chief villain that emerges from that documentary — there are many — is Mr. Raymond Cullivan, owner of Misty Meadow in Cavan, which has hundreds of breeding bitches. Dogs are kept there in tiny cages and are not allowed outside. They are illegally kept in coffin-type whelping boxes with their pups and are unable to move. Unfortunately, this is not just a rogue trader. It is not just an isolated incident. These are the kinds of conditions that exist in industrial-scale puppy farms, where pups are bred non-stop and exported before they should be, even according to the Balai directive. They are not given access to veterinary care and not allowed outside. In some cases, they are simply thrown at the side of the road if they get sick.
I have no evidence concerning the case the Deputy cited but I will ask my officials to liaise with Cavan County Council in that regard. It is the local authority that has been charged with inspections.
I am committed to ensuring the new guidelines will be enacted by June of this year. The recommendations received in regard to the public consultation, which are summarised in my Department, cover a number of areas.
A query was raised on which Department should have legislative responsibility and whether it should be the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which is involved in animal welfare and which has veterinary officers. Questions were asked about requested changes that could potentially be taken on board in regard to redrafting the guidelines, changes that would not be possible to take on board under the legislative framework, and areas generally relating to dog welfare issues that are outside the scope of the original consultation. The working group involved will have its next meeting on 23 February. It operates under the auspices of the County and City Management Association.
There is undoubtedly a problem with the legislation and regulations as they stand, both in terms of the absence of enforcement and the manner in which they are drafted. It is evidenced by the fact that Ireland is leading the race to the bottom regarding conditions on puppy farms. It is why Ireland is the puppy-farming capital of Europe.
An issue I wish to raise is the enforcement of the regulations as they currently exist. This means proper inspections. The "Panorama" documentary shows there had been inspections by Cavan County Council at the farm in question and that it deemed that everything was fine. There is a case for properly resourced independent inspectors — for example, from the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, ISPCA. There is a problem in accessing, through freedom of information requests, data on the inspections that have been carried out. Repeatedly, various groups, including the ISPCA, have been denied information, obtainable through freedom of information requests, on quite spurious grounds. More fundamentally, there is need to crack down on and eliminate industrial-style breeding. In Victoria in Australia, for example, the maximum number of breeding bitches allowed is ten. It could be fewer. As in Victoria, we could ensure that licence numbers are advertised in third-party sales.
I want to see the highest standards achieved in any dog-breeding establishment. I certainly do not want Ireland to develop a negative reputation in this important area. Clearly, there is a market for puppies. My wife, Avril, and I took on a dog rescued through Madra. It is a shih tzu called Ciara. It was a breeding dog that we were able to rehouse. I understand the importance of the Deputy’s point, therefore. I also understand that people like to buy newborn puppies. It is important that they be treated correctly. I will certainly look into the issue the Deputy raised regarding the establishment in question. I will examine, under the guidelines, what role there may be for independent oversight.
With regard to convictions relating to establishments, the number increased from 118 in 2014 to 138 in 2016. We are awaiting the figures for 2017. Prosecutions rose from 273 to 304. The number of inspections of existing dog-breeding establishments increased from 80 in 2014 to 215 in 2016. The number of improvement notices issued in respect of applications for renewal of registration rose from zero in 2014 to ten in 2016. Certainly, people are more conscious of the importance of this area. As I stated, I will raise with the powers that be some of the issues the Deputy raised regarding the review and renewal of the guidelines.
Rural Development Policy
Thomas Pringle
Ceist:31. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the measures being undertaken by his Department to address persistent depopulation in rural towns across County Donegal and the rest of the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8823/18]
I would like the Minister to outline what has been done for rural areas in terms of national development. Last week, GeoDirectory published statistics on commercial activity across the country. Ballybofey, County Donegal, had the highest rate of commercial inactivity, at 28.8%. Commercial vacancy has been a consistent feature in Donegal, primarily due to ongoing and persistent depopulation in rural towns. What is being done to tackle rural depopulation in the county and throughout the country?
I thank the Deputy for the question.
The Government has made clear its support for rural areas in Project Ireland 2040, which was launched last week. The overarching objective of the national planning framework, which is one of the strands of Project Ireland, is to ensure the population growth and economic growth that will take place up to 2040 will be shared more evenly across the regions.
The national planning framework specifically commits to maintaining Ireland’s rural fabric and to reversing town, village and rural population decline. It also highlights the continued potential of the traditional pillars of the rural economy in supporting job creation in areas such as tourism and agriculture as well as the opportunities that will arise through new technologies and investment.
Under the national development plan, the Government has committed to establishing a new rural regeneration and development fund, which will provide an additional €1 billion over the next ten years to support rural renewal and reduce population decline in rural towns and villages. Other funding streams in the national development plan, across sectors such as transport, tourism, energy and communications, will also support rural towns and villages.
My Department will continue to deliver schemes such as the town and village renewal scheme, Leader and the CLÁR programme. CLÁR is a targeted capital investment programme for rural areas that have experienced significant levels of depopulation. Over the past two years, over €1.1 million has been allocated to County Donegal under the CLÁR programme.
The reference to an allocation of €1.1 million for County Donegal over the past two years says it all.
In the space of six years, since Fine Gael was elected in 2011, Donegal has experienced the highest rate of population decline in the country, at -1.5%, while every other county bar Sligo and Mayo experienced a population increase. The Minister's county, therefore, experienced a population decrease. This is because the Government has not offered any support to rural areas to address rural population decline.
Rural population decline is both a symptom and cause of the retreat of rural services, including post offices, Garda stations and general practitioners, and most recently the retreat of private sector services, which has left towns such as Ardara with no banking facilities at all. This is all under the Minister's watch.
The root cause of rural population decline is Government policy prioritising urban areas to the detriment of rural towns, privatising essential networks, such as the post office network, and centralising front-line services, such as the Garda force.
What will the Minister do to ensure that these services will be retained in rural areas and that they will remain vibrant? I refer to towns such as Ballybofey and Ardagh, which are not small or rural in nature but which need to be protected to ensure that they can grow.
The Deputy referred to funding for Donegal, which received the third highest amount of funding from my Department in 2017. That was over €8.6 million more than my county received. The local improvement scheme, LIS, was allocated €3.3 million, CLÁR was allocated €589,000 and the town and village renewal scheme was allocated €1.15 million. These are the programmes we are trying to put in place to create employment and to keep people living and working in rural Ireland. In many counties, including Donegal, funding was provided for digital and food hubs, both of which are responsible for creating jobs. I want to continue that. Unemployment in Donegal fell by 6,000 between 2011 and 2016. I note from recent statistics that the number of children aged under 15 years increased during that period. Donegal has a very bright future.
The county council, the county manager and councillors in Donegal have worked very hard in recent years. They have taken on the tourism aspect of promoting the county. There is no doubt they have bought into that. Many jobs are being created in Donegal. The Wild Atlantic Way gave the county the best lift it ever got. The county manager and elected representatives will tell the Deputy that.
The Minister is wrong. The unemployment level has not fallen by 6,000; it actually fell by 9,300 over the past five years. The Minister should boost his figures, but perhaps he does not want to do that because, while unemployment has fallen by 9,300, the number of jobs created only increased by 2,000. Some 7,000 people have left the county and that is why unemployment has fallen. People have gone to Dublin, London, New York and Australia. The Minister should be careful with the figures he has announced. Population figures have fallen because of emigration rather than on foot of anything he - or the Government - has done. That is the problem we have in Donegal.
I carried out a business survey of small towns across Donegal in recent weeks. There was a great response from a wide range of businesses in Ardagh, Donegal town, Ballybofey and other places. They have a sense that no help is being accorded to them in terms of keeping services going. They have identified the withdrawal of services as being the key factor and referred to the post offices, banks and Garda stations that have been closed. The Minister has to reverse that trend, which is the only way he can protect those towns.
Deputy Pringle sees the glass as half empty but I see it as half full. He does not like the facts. The Government has put substantial funding into Donegal and has tried to create jobs and keep people living in Donegal. I provided figures for some of the schemes for which I have responsibility. Many other Ministers have responsibility for other schemes.
Donegal has a very bright future. Every town and village went through a major recession, but Donegal is coming out of it. Donegal needs people like Deputy Pringle to talk it up rather than talk it down. There are many fine and articulate people living and working in Donegal. Deputy Pringle can use statistics his way and I can use them my way. Donegal has a bright future and is doing very well. As long as I am here, it will get its fair share of the national cake.