Like my colleagues, I welcome Ms McIntyre and Mr. Beattie. I apologise at the outset for my two Fianna Fáil colleagues, Senators Blaney and McGreehan. They are in the Seanad but hope to join us later.
Like Deputy Conway-Walsh, I welcome that Ms Linda Ervine is addressing the Seanad ag ceiliúradh Seachtain na Gaeilge. I believe this committee met her some years ago at the opening of the Skainos Centre on Newtownards Road. The then deputy First Minister, Mr. Martin McGuinness, and the then First Minister, Mr. Peter Robinson, were opening it officially and we were there on what was a great day for the community and the various funding programmes. From my recollection, the then Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was a substantial contributor to its development.
I have had many engagements with the SEUPB over the years. There has been great progress since the initial PEACE I programme. Since then, there have been other programmes. The body is now entering an exciting phase, given the substantial allocation to the PEACEPLUS programme, the largest ever commitment to cross-Border projects under our national development plan, and the shared island initiative. There is a large pool of resources and I hope that at the end of the designated period, we will not be looking at an underspend. It would be great to get the programmes up and running quickly. I welcome Ms McIntyre's remark that the body hopes to be inviting applications by this summer. That would be great.
The body has been engaging with communities and some of us have tried to participate in the feedback that it has sought. Since the first PEACE programme, there has been a great effort to engage communities. I remember attending many public meetings in small community centres - I am sure the Chairman did as well - where people were striving to enhance poor facilities in parish halls. We saw them become substantially resourced community centres that are now great additions to their local communities through facilitating classes, meetings and recreational and sporting activities.
PEACE I and its successor programmes have played an enormous role in bringing that new social investment in the communities that Ms McIntyre and Deputy Conway-Walsh spoke about, areas that were traditionally deprived and disadvantaged. It is important that we continue that work.
What is the breakdown between capital and current funding? As I recall, PEACE I was very much about bricks and mortar and putting projects in place. That followed on from the International Fund for Ireland or working alongside the then International Fund for Ireland.
I welcome that the SEUPB has a strong emphasis on education provision. Different witnesses have appeared before this committee recently pointing out the alarming lack of skills in a large cohort of the population in Northern Ireland and some communities here. That area needs to be addressed. Ms McIntyre mentioned that South West College won an award in the climate area and I believe that was recognised at the climate summit in Glasgow. I understand from some students attending South West College in Enniskillen and also some staff within the college that it is a fabulous facility. I congratulate everybody who has contributed to that welcome educational infrastructure.
I have raised with the Taoiseach and the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the need to develop the further education sector on an all-Ireland, cross-border basis. Above all sectors of education, training and the provision of skills, the colleges of further education have been key to ensuring that people progress in education. I have seen many young people who did not finish their formal second level education go back to second chance education in the Youthreach centres and then go on to further education and get good awards from those colleges. Thankfully, many of them have gone on to get primary degrees with some completing postgraduate studies as well.
As a country, both North and South, we need to place greater emphasis on the importance of the further education sector. Both the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Harris, have committed to me that they would be very interested in having a more formal structure in the provision of further education on an all-Ireland basis. That can be tied in with the shared island initiative and the substantial funding that our new designated Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science has. Perhaps the SEUPB could take the lead or underpin that work. I, and I am sure all the other public representatives at this meeting, know of young people who did not get the best start in education at primary and secondary level but then went on to further education and did extremely well, thankfully for themselves, their family and their community.
We are all influenced by where we come from. Cavan Institute is a very good college of further education. There is a very good college in Enniskillen and there are other colleges in the Border area. There is great scope for more collaboration. We do not want to compete with each other but to complement each other. We need to ensure the relevant education provision is made for students on a cross-border basis. There is great potential there. It is about trying to reach the people who are hard to reach and who are least qualified.
In her opening remarks, Ms McIntyre mentioned the need to promote social inclusion particularly for those on the margins of economic and social life. I welcome the emphasis on that in the new PEACEPLUS programme. On different occasions the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, has told the Dáil that there would be a substantial commitment to support people on the margins - the people who have not had the opportunities for education and employment we all want to see through this programme.
In her contribution, Ms McIntyre mentioned a renewed focus on rural and Border communities to support regeneration and reimagining in rural areas that have been most affected by a lack of investment for decades. We are now in a new era. Thankfully, we have substantial money available for these programmes. We also have a new mindset regarding what can be done in rural areas. It is no longer necessary to be in the centre of Dublin, Belfast, Derry or any other major urban area to provide services throughout Ireland. We have seen that forced on people during the pandemic.
There must be more opportunities for people to work in local hubs and their homes. Our smaller towns and villages can be regenerated. In most instances, our rural communities have great strengths. We regularly speak in the Dáil about the lack of investment in our rural communities and what they need. While we can stand up those arguments, an examination on the positive side of what our communities have by and large shows there are good primary and secondary schools, and good preschool education. We have football and hurling clubs, and other sporting facilities. Alongside that there are the community centres and parish halls etc. Significant infrastructure is already in place in rural areas. It may need a top-up or a reimagining of some of that. That would help to bring more people back to live in those communities away from the hustle, bustle and hassle of urban life with traffic and particularly the cost of housing.
The initiatives Ms McIntyre mentioned can make a difference in making rural and more remote areas more attractive for people to come, live and work. Hopefully, people can also come and create new job opportunities in those areas.
I wish Ms McIntyre well with the project and I compliment her on her always going out and getting the views of communities. That has been a great strength in the different programmes since the late 1990s and that is the way it needs to continue. If Ms McIntyre has the figures available, I ask her to provide a breakdown between capital and current spending.
I raised a further issue here some weeks ago. The wider horizons programme was an initiative funded under the International Fund for Ireland in the 1990s and involved youth clubs in Northern Ireland having a sister club in our jurisdiction and vice versa. They shared different programmes. Students from the North came south and vice versa. They also went on trips abroad and stayed with host families in the United States, Australia or wherever. They were extremely important. In many instances, those students have remained in contact. I believe setting up a similar programme now would be beneficial.
