I warmly welcome the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Heather Humphreys, to the Seanad.
Action Plan for Rural Development: Statements
I am very grateful for the invitation to attend the Upper House to provide an update on the recently launched Action Plan for Rural Development entitled, Realising our Rural Potential.
As someone who has lived and worked in rural Ireland for most of my life, there are few subjects about which I feel as passionately as ensuring we provide the right conditions to allow rural Ireland to grow and thrive. The Government’s commitment to the regional and rural agenda is a clear priority in the publication A Programme for a Partnership Government. The publication just over a fortnight ago of the Action Plan for Rural Development has provided a clear roadmap for the implementation of the regional and rural commitments contained in the programme for Government, as well as new ideas and initiatives.
I begin by expressing my sympathy to those affected by the job losses announced at the Hewlett Packard site in Leixlip. Yesterday's news is, sadly, a reminder that we must not be complacent. We have to work hard to ensure we remain competitive and continue to encourage companies into Ireland, as well as supporting home-grown businesses. Just this week, my colleague the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor, announced over 200 jobs in Waterford and Kilkenny.
I was particularly pleased to hear the announcement that 140 new jobs would be created by the link-up between Mercury Filmworks and the wonderful Cartoon Saloon in Kilkenny. I have visited Cartoon Saloon, which is an Oscar-nominated animation studio, and the place is quite literally brimming with talent and creativity. A further 60 jobs were announced at the software company Red Hat in Waterford, underlining the vast range of skills and knowledge available to prospective employers in all areas of the country. It should be noted, of course, that these job announcements arrive on the heels of earlier announcements such as the creation in 2017 of 100 jobs in Athlone by the delivery company DPD with another 100 to follow before 2020, and the creation of 100 jobs in the next two years in Dundalk by the Almac pharmaceutical group. We want to build on that progress.
The Action Plan for Rural Development represents a whole-of-government approach to rural development. We are not looking at any single element of rural development in isolation. We look at the whole picture - from supporting the creation of jobs and enterprise right through to fostering culture and creativity in rural communities. It is the first plan of its kind and every Department is committed to delivering on the 270 actions outlined in this plan. We have set ourselves a number of ambitious targets across all sectors covered by the plan. In delivering the plan, we will support the creation of 135,000 new jobs in rural Ireland by 2020 by supporting indigenous businesses and increasing foreign direct investment by up to 40% in the regions; implement a range of initiatives to rejuvenate over 600 rural and regional towns, including a pilot scheme to encourage people to return to living in town and village centres; assist over 4,000 projects in rural communities through the Leader programme to boost economic development, tackle social exclusion and provide services for people living in remote areas; increase the number of visitors to rural Ireland by 12% in the next three years through targeted tourism initiatives, including increased promotion of activity tourism; and accelerate the preparation for the roll out of high-speed broadband, which will be a game-changer for rural Ireland and ensure all homes and businesses in rural Ireland are connected to broadband as early as possible.
The plan also recognises the need to support and protect vital local services in rural Ireland in order that people can live, work and raise their families in a vibrant and sustainable environment. For example, as part of the action plan, the Minister for Health and the HSE have committed to increasing the number of GPs in rural communities allowing rural dwellers better access to vital health services. The Government is also investing over €435 million for approximately 90 projects in public nursing home facilities and district and community hospitals in rural Ireland up to 2021. We will deliver 18 new primary care centres in rural Ireland next year.
In addition, as part of the plan, a range of measures will be taken to address crime prevention, including ensuring gardai are mobile, visible and responsive in the community. A total of 3,200 new Garda members will be recruited nationally in the next four years to reach a strength of 15,000 members. Other security and safety supports to rural communities will be provided through schemes such as Neighbourhood Watch, Text Alert and Seniors Alert. A new community CCTV grants scheme will also be introduced by the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality as part of the action plan.
The action plan will also ensure rural Ireland is well served by transport systems. For example, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and the National Transport Authority will work with rural communities to assess and implement improvements to existing rural transport routes and develop new routes, as necessary.
Itt is vital that we focus on the cultural vibrancy, as well as the economic viability of rural Ireland and with that in mind, my Department is working with local authorities to implement the Creative Ireland programme developing culture teams and creativity hubs across rural Ireland. I also intend to provide funding for competitive art works which contribute to public spaces and reflect the culture and characteristics of the town or region, all of which will enhance our rural communities.
I am acutely aware that the issue which is probably of greatest interest and concern to rural communities is the provision of high-speed broadband. In that regard, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment and I are working closely together to pave the way for the roll out of this vital resource in rural Ireland. While the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment is managing the procurement process, my Department is taking all steps necessary to ensure that rural communities will be best positioned to capitalise on full access to the digital environment. Two regional broadband action groups involving every local authority in the country have been established with a view to identifying and addressing any barriers which could inhibit the roll-out of broadband once the contracts are awarded. My Department is funding a broadband officer in each local authority who will act as a single point of contact with telecommunications operators regarding the roll-out of broadband. We are also helping to upskill up to 30,000 people in rural communities who have never used the Internet so they can fully avail of the service when it is rolled out. The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment and I will also work together to implement the recommendations of the task force on mobile phone and broadband access published last December. The implementation of the plan will be overseen by a monitoring committee which I will chair and it will report to the Cabinet committee on regional and rural affairs which is chaired by the Taoiseach.
I have appointed Pat Spillane to act as an ambassador for the action plan for rural development. He has kindly agreed to take on the role to encourage businesses, communities, sporting organisations and other organisations to engage with the plan. As Members of the House will be aware, Pat Spillane played a key role in the 2014 report of the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas, CEDRA, and is well placed to carry out this new role.
I thank Senators for their time and look forward to the contributions to come. While I am sure there will be different views on how we should approach the task of rural development, I think we can all agree on our deep commitment to the issue and the desire for us to succeed. I should also take the opportunity to thank all those who participated in consultations in developing the plan, our colleagues in other Departments, State agencies and local authorities, and all those who will partner with us in implementing this plan. We need the help and expertise of those who have worked in the area of rural development for many years to realise the vision set out in the plan. I have seen the capacity of local communities to come together to achieve great things when the right structures and supports are put in place to combine the efforts and expertise of all of us and I hope Realising our Rural Potential: Action Plan for Rural Development will provide these structures.
I welcome the Minister. As a fellow rural dweller, she will be very much aware of the struggles of rural Ireland which I regard as being in dire straits. I note that in her speech, she said that this plan would enable rural Ireland to further grow and thrive but in order to allow something to further grow and thrive, it needs to already have grown and rural Ireland is in a regressive state. There is no growth; there is decline. We are starting in the wrong position if we talk about further growing rural Ireland. We need remedial action.
This action plan is another false dawn for rural Ireland and rehashes existing announcements, programmes and employment forecasts. It is the fourth rural plan in 33 months from Fine Gael in power following the CEDRA report in April 2014, the Charter for Rural Ireland in January 2016 and the programme for Government in May 2016. The first page of the plan dealing with key deliverables is a lovely graphic page. It talks about 135,000 new jobs, which are already in the action plan for jobs. The 12% increase in the number of overseas visitors is already part of the tourism strategy. The figure of over €51 million for sports, recreational and cultural facilities is part of the sports capital programme. The announcement of €12 million to revitalise over 600 towns and villages is to be welcomed, but it does not refer to the 1.7 million people who live in what are known as aggregated rural areas, namely, outside aggregated town areas. This is the heart of rural Ireland and is most affected by problems. In many people's minds, rural Ireland is outside the M50, rightly so, but the real rural Irish people are those living in parishes. There is not one mention of the parish in a very comprehensive rural development plan. The nearest thing to a positive effort is in towns and villages, which is to be welcomed.
The plan totally ignores the heart of rural Ireland.
The next key deliverable is to protect vital local services. Protecting what already exists is not sufficient. We need to replace many of the local services that have been closed down and done away with during the term of the last Government. We need a rejuvenation process instead of a protection programme.
The next key deliverable is to ensure all homes and businesses are connected to broadband. More than 900,000 rural households and businesses must wait until 2023 for State intervention to receive moderate speed broadband. That is six years passed the promised deadline, which is not good enough. Rural Ireland will not prosper or grow if it has to wait so long for a proper broadband service.
Flood relief has been included in this fabulous new document but it was already committed to in the capital plan. One of the plan's targets is to support 4,000 new community projects but no extra funding has been provided for the rural development plan and Leader programmes.
IDA Ireland is the Government agency charged with bringing industry to this country. The fact that as many as 50% of all IDA Ireland's site visits take place in the greater Dublin area, which is not 50% of the land area or 50% of the populated area of the country, is one of the major death knells for rural Ireland. That fact shows we have turned our backs on rural Ireland and it is one of the reasons rural Ireland has suffered.
The plan reveals a systematic rural policy failure by Fine Gael. There is no long-term vision or planning. The ultimate litmus test will be what additional funding, if any, will be ring-fenced for this plan. The Minister must immediately update the Oireachtas on whether she will introduce a Supplementary Estimate for 2017 in that regard. As I said previously, most of the bells and whistles associated with this plan that were supposed to cajole and reassure the people of rural Ireland have already been committed to. There is nothing new in the plan to reassure people who live in rural Ireland and know what the problems are from their daily life experiences. There is nothing in this plan that will reassure them that rural Ireland will improve.
The cornerstone of rural Ireland is, and always has been, the family farm. We are all aware that while it may not be directly within the remit of the Minister, the agriculture sector is experiencing a major crisis. When the rural family farm is under stress and unprofitable, rural Ireland will have problems. If the farmers and the farming community can make money and earn a proper profit margin on their produce, they will spend it locally. That will help to revitalise, rejuvenate and rebuild rural Ireland.
I will outline another major problem. A directive must be issued by the Department, Ministers and the Government to the local authorities in rural Ireland in respect of planning permissions. Each county has a county development plan that county planners are bound to implement. The Government can issue a directive to influence the formation of county development plans. It is as hard now, or it is harder than it ever was, to secure planning permission in rural Ireland. I do not know how a plan or a proposed strategy to develop and enhance rural Ireland can succeed if barriers are imposed and people are refused permission to live in rural Ireland. It is an enormous contradiction. Central government needs to bring in the local authorities if we have a real ambition to foster and promote rural Ireland. We must sit down with the local authorities and give them guidelines to loosen up their stringent planning laws that act as the greatest deterrent to the recovery of rural Ireland.
I could cover many more aspects of the plan which I do not welcome. We have been there and done that in terms of the vast majority of the plan. The local authorities are the first line of defence for, or promotion of, rural areas. These situations must be assessed on a case by case basis.
I thank the Senator for finishing his contribution right on the button.
I did not expect to speak so soon. I welcome the Minister.
The document entitled, Realising our Rural Potential - Action Plan for Rural Development, is terrific. I do not know when we first thought that Ireland ended at the Red Cow roundabout. When did that happen? It is great that this plan has come together and has brought so many Departments together.
I have always known, because I was born in rural Ireland, that we were a rural country. The media tend to forget that Ireland is a rural country. They tend to sink most of the ideas in the cities and not in rural Ireland. It is a great advantage that the Minister hails from rural Ireland because she can link in what is great and good about rural Ireland.
The Minister knows I believe the arts should have a separate and independent Department. I also believe the arts should be an independent subject on the school curriculum. Unfortunately, the arts are highly integrated into the school curriculum. The Minister is a great one to have at the helm of positioning the arts in the middle of rural Ireland and make its population the conduit of bringing the arts alive. One of the reasons I say so, although not one person in the Seanad is listening to me, is because rural Ireland made The Gathering a success. I show respect to other Senators by listening to them and I take umbrage at the fact Senators come in here to do other work while a Member is talking.
In fairness one does not have to pay attention to be able to listen to the Senator.
Such behaviour is beyond disgraceful.
The Gathering was possibly the greatest example of how the arts, culture and music-----
On a point of order, I ask the Senator to retract her statement.
I will not.
We were listening to her. It is very disrespectful to us for her to accuse us of not listening to her while we are in the Seanad. She is completely out order.
That is not a point of order.
Senator Tevor Ó Clochartaigh has said I have been disrespectful. He can take it as any kind of respect he likes. He must have the mind of a child that he can write something, answer things and listen to speakers at the same time.
I ask the Senator to, please, comment on the subject of the statements. I urge her not to invite interruptions, comments or make alleged derogatory comments about others.
The Gathering was possibly the greatest conduit and platform for the energy and creativity that happened in this country during the Minister's watch. It was absolutely outstanding. It would be great if we could create that again. The arts are central to the way we live. I have visited Palestine and witnessed how the arts drew people together from across the Arab and Israeli divide. The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra has brought people together. It is the arts that communicate. It is the arts that get young people through bereavement and loss. It is the arts that give us all internal expression. All of the areas of the arts are the greatest conduit and platform for who we are as human beings. The arts are transformative and intuit because they can see beyond the obvious.
The Minister has said that she will create culture teams and creative hubs across Ireland through the Creative Ireland programme. That is an excellent idea. Business and broadband are important elements of the plan. As I have a background in the arts, I can attest to the fact that the sector has so much to offer isolated communities, young communities and ageing communities.
That brings me to the McAuley Place in Naas where the greatest common creativity is happening across an ageing population who live independently in a convent bought by Margharita Solan. The venue comprises 56 independent apartments and a restaurant and provides opportunities to experience art, visual art, creative art, singing, music and dance. McAuley Place represents a healthy whole Ireland. It is an exemplary venue that everyone should visit and should be duplicated in other towns.
President Michael D. Higgins said, "After all, we remain creative until we draw our last breath." It is the very thing we are looking for here and in the hubs across Ireland. Perhaps it might be an exemplary hub from which others could learn.
I feel when I come into the Chamber that Members are not listening. It is disconcerting if they are writing, on the Internet and looking through other documents.
They are being creative.
I am just making the point that I do not like it.
Point taken.
It is appalling that technology takes precedence over the voices and ideas of others, including Ministers, who are ignored by Senators because they are doing other work. I will not retract what I said which was not personal. I used the word "Senators"; therefore, it was not personal to any one person. They must have felt a little guilty as they have delivered their big action plan.
Absolutely not.
Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell's contribution is valued as much as the contribution of every other Member, be it on any item of legislation or the Order of Business or in the making of statements. The contribution of every Member is and should be appreciated and respected.
It should be, but it is not.
It should be and is. The fact that some colleagues may be in their offices working does not mean that they are not listening.
Senators are running offices from here.
I welcome the Minister to the Seanad and thank her for giving of her time to discuss the recent launch of the action plan for rural development. Those of us who live in rural areas, including the Minister, know of their potential as really good places in which to live, work, visit and raise families. Despite the challenges faced in rural Ireland, there is also exceptional pride, as well as real community spirit. I know this because I live in rural Roscommon.
Pat Spillane has been mentioned as having been heavily involved in the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas, CEDRA. Another person who was also heavily involved was Cathal O'Donoghue, a former adviser in Teagasc. His words are important in roadmapping and ensuring rural communities will be very much to the fore. He stated, "Rural Ireland is tough and resilient, but we also need support." The action plan for rural development is focused on trying to create that roadmap. It is focused on co-ordination between various Departments and ensuring they will be held to account in delivering real results for rural areas. It is critically important that the plan not just be a plan but that it deliver real results and that each Department be held to account.
As a young Senator from the west, the single biggest issue facing us is the need to create better job opportunities. The Minister has talked about the creative sector, as has Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell. One initiative on which I would like to focus and which is happening is the creative project Creative Communities Igniting Change which commenced in early January, as part of which 16 people have commenced training in a hub in Ballaghadereen. They are involved in the creative sector, be it in the arts, technology or advertising. They are learning and upskilling to try to turn their creative ideas and experiences into a business. This is a very good example of agencies working together. Roscommon Leader Partnership is leading on it, but we also have the local enterprise offices, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, GMIT, and the local community very much involved in supporting the people in question in trying to turn their creative ideas into a business. We need to see more of this and the 16 people having the confidence, skills and capabilities following the training programme to do it. They will need enhanced and increased support, but this is a good example of where we are trying to support people involved in the creative sector.
We also know that when the Western Development Commission carried out a huge amount of research in 2009, it found that the creative sector was very much underdeveloped. It has the potential to be labour-intensive and very important to the west. Similarly, in the rural economic development, RED, zone, funding was allocated by the Minister's Department for the creation of a food hub, An Chistin, in Castlerea. It is in its infancy, but it is also very important in the delivery of the plan to ensure we will see people upskilling and having the confidence to turn their expertise and abilities into successful businesses.
The Minister and others have rightly mentioned the need for broadband which, without doubt, is the most important priority in improving infrastructure in rural areas. There is a need for real action in this regard, but I know that the Minister is working very hard to ensure there will be broadband officers within every council. However, we need to see delivery and young people having the confidence to return to rural areas and see them, as I do, as great places in which to live, work and raise families.
The need to continue to improve road infrastructure has been mentioned. As I have done on many occasions, I point to the need to ensure we upgrade the M5, the major route to the west, between Scramogue and Ballaghadereen. There is an urgent need to deliver that project because if we want to remain competitive, we need to ensure business people will be able to travel short distances. We must also ensure we will reduce travel times.
In terms of what has been done, a sum of €10 million has been allocated under the town and village renewal scheme. We received CLÁR funding last year. We have also had the rural recreation scheme. Being very much involved within my local community and across County Roscommon, the sense that people want to be involved to make their communities better is very evident. Having been involved in coming up with ideas and suggestions for how the funding available under the town and village renewal scheme could be used, I know that the initiative has been very positive. Local people want to work together to see communities improving. To that end, obviously we need increased resources and funding. This year the amount available will be increased to €12 million, which is very positive as we need to support the weakest areas. I come from north Roscommon which was hit very severely by the impact of the recession. It was impacted on by the fact that the economy had been based on the construction industry. We have seen huge outward migration. There are boarded up buildings and town centres have lost their sense of vibrancy and life. We need to become active to ensure we will support the towns and villages which are weakest and in need of enhanced support. That must be a priority.
I will certainly be working closely with the Minister to ensure the action plan for rural development will work and that we will deliver real results for those living in rural areas.
Our focus on our investment and energy needs to be directed towards the weakest towns and villages first. I ask that resources for any pilot schemes which encourage people to return, renovate or invest are targeted at those towns and villages which are really struggling. We can be quite tempted to support rural towns and villages which are doing quite well but we need to actively ensure we support rural areas in greatest need. This is in conjunction with the Department and local authorities throughout the country.
I welcome the Minister. I am delighted to have the opportunity to discuss something that means so much to me. I completely understand the context of the plan and the Minister's work, with regard to the bankruptcy of the country and the giveaway of €64 billion to the banks, which could have been spent on rural Ireland. Not only that, but we also have the €7 billion we must pay each year to service the debt which could be used to develop rural Ireland and do what is needed.
I was very much looking forward to this plan, as somebody who cares so passionately about rural Ireland. I can see the Minister also cares and it means an awful lot to her. I was disappointed with the number of actions in it. I am used to developing plans, and having this many actions in a plan dilutes it somewhat. I would have preferred to have seen five real priorities for rural Ireland. I have gone through every line and word of the plan and it is a compendium of cross-departmental schemes and measures which had already been documented. When I read the plan, I was looking for the big idea but I did not find one. I chaired Stand Up for the West, and Sinn Féin's policy document, A New Deal for the West, has really good ideas. The Minister's plan disappointed me.
The Minister is in the driving seat, but the plan did not deliver and it did not inspire me. I will go through some of the reasons I was not inspired. There have been ten years of absolutely massive cuts to capital spending, which have impacted on rural Ireland. The author of the plan did not grasp the gravity of what is happening and what has happened in recent years in rural Ireland. It did not show me the Government is really genuinely listening to the ordinary people. It is almost shocking that, to date, there has not been cross-departmental co-operation and concentration on what is needed for rural Ireland. I certainly welcome it, but it is late, and it is a shocking indictment of the Government and previous Governments that they did not have a cross-governmental concentrated effort to address the seriousness of the crisis in rural Ireland.
The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has stated €3 billion was needed to get the secondary roads up to standard, but last year's budget provided €298 million, which comes nowhere near to addressing it. The decline of rural Ireland has accelerated under this and previous Governments. We know the broadband speeds in many areas in rural Ireland are 36 times slower than other areas, but we see the plan will not be implemented until 2022. This does not suggest the urgency needed. I have major problems trying to run my office at home. I never know whether I will be able to send an e-mail. When we speak about jobs we never equate or think about the jobs that are lost because of not having this connectivity which is vital to establish any business in rural Ireland. Will the Minister, please, see whether the national broadband plan can be accelerated? I ask her to start from the outside in because towns that already have a standard of broadband are returned to time and again while other areas are left with no connectivity whatsoever. I would appreciate it if the plan were implemented from the outside in rather than from the inside out.
I welcome the aspiration for 135,000 jobs, but many jobs have been lost and we do not count the jobs that have been lost. If I were in government, I would make a rule that I would never announce jobs until they were ready to be recruited. Jobs were announced in Mayo but six, 12 and 24 months later there were still no jobs. We have all the fanfare of the announcements but they do not materialise into real jobs for real people with real wages.
I have some problems with how jobs are counted, including with regard to IDA Ireland concentration. If we look at how jobs were counted previously, there was a 60% and 40% concentration and anything outside Dublin and Cork was recorded as a percentage. Now as Cork has been removed, the percentages look bigger. It is about a perception that there are more jobs. It reminds me of 2013 when the Government lauded itself for the creation of 61,000 jobs. When I examined it, I found 28,000 of them were to be in agriculture but they never happened. I rang up the CSO in Cork and said they must be overrun by tractors down there because the jobs certainly were not in County Mayo. It would have equated to 100 jobs in agriculture a day, which was nonsense. The line was pedalled out again and again and it was never challenged by the media. The media have a role in all of this to really challenge some of the figures put forward. Obviously, it was only an adjustment in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine which was a nonsense. To count them as new jobs is lying to the people.
Businesses continue to close in the west because of the high overheads, reduced footfall and how rates are calculated. I completely welcome foreign direct investment and it plays a major role in a small open economy such as ours but indigenous businesses are still being ignored. There is nothing in the plan that will substantially make a difference to small businesses in rural Ireland.
With regard to local employment offices, we need to look at trying to sustain existing businesses and keep them open rather than chasing around here, there and everywhere throughout the world, looking for the people with the shiny shoes to come in and then pay them reverence. We ignore our own much of the time when a small intervention could make all the difference and could save jobs and businesses. All we want in areas such as my area of Belmullet is small industry that would pay people at the end of the week in order that they would have a wage packet to spend in the local economy.
I completely disagree with bringing the Leader programme under the local authorities. The people who gathered throughout the country were ignored. The Minister stated there was extra spending and projects through Leader, but it is a falsity when we look at a county such as Mayo where €9 million has been taken from the Leader budget. There is a delay in the evaluations and only 25 Leader projects have been approved since it was announced last September. I can see a real glut. The Minister needs to look at Pobal with a view to putting in place extra staff. If there is a backlog of three weeks, it will continue to increase and those promoting projects cannot get them done. There is a real issue with planning permission for Leader projects. Some county development plans stipulate that enterprises cannot be set up where there is no public sewage schemes. In many of the areas where jobs are desperately needed, there is no public sewage scheme. I ask for some flexibility on this issue.
I have not touched on health, but the Minister knows the Taoiseach has stated University Hospital Galway is not fit for purpose, and it is not. People cannot even park cars there and there are many cancellations. I ask the Minister to look at another site such as Merlin Park where a proper hospital for the west can be built in order that people can access health care.
There are some opportunities for the Minister in farming and terms of payment equality. I know it is not her direct responsibility but the delays in the GLAS payments and the inequality in terms of payments can be somewhat addressed in the review of the areas of natural constraints, ANC, scheme. I ask the Minister to take a special interest in it in order that there is equality and to examine the CAP and how its review can address the disadvantage for smaller farmers.
I could make suggestions for three hours. I know the Minister is trying her best but this plan falls way short. Nevertheless, my party and I will continue to work with the Minister in every way possible because I passionately believe that the development of rural Ireland is the solution to the national economic sustainability of our country. If people were to regard rural Ireland not as a problem but as a robust and sustainable solution, we would all be much better off.
I warmly welcome the Minister. Like me, she comes from and believes in rural Ireland and believes rural Ireland must grow and prosper so that our society is a better place in which to live and bring up families. I acknowledge, as did the Minister on the launch of the plan, that this is the first time all of the actions for rural development have been pulled together in one document, which is important. Leader companies and others have done great work on rural Ireland, but it is as if they are operating in isolation from each other. Until it is laid out in one document, which the Minister did, one does not see the pieces fitting together. I am sincere in my acknowledgement of that fact.
I perused the document when it was issued and felt a lot of the document was pulling together announcements that had already been made. I was criticised for saying this at the time. As a result, like Senator Rose Conway-Walsh, I went through the document literally page by page. To test what I had said and to defend myself, I decided to set out a number of parliamentary questions for various Ministers, including the Minister herself, to be tabled by Deputies Joan Burton and Willie Penrose. In the time that is allowed to me, I will try to encapsulate the result of that exercise and stand up my initial comment which was that there was very little new in the document although I acknowledge that the document did pull it all together. I will do it by dealing with specific actions. I am sorry to say that I will not deal with them in any particular order but as they came within my radar.
Action 20 relates to the post office network. The parliamentary reply was that there would be a monitoring role of the post office hub working group, which is already in place, to see how it was progressing and what would be done. Action 23 relates to the setting up of a public banking network that would be based on the Kiwi model or the Sparkasse model which has been in place in Germany for 200 years and is in operation in 40 countries across the world. For two years this organisation has been trying to get support to kick-start a third banking force in rural Ireland that is specifically aimed at providing loan supports for the SME sector. We were told that the matter would be dealt with by a number of groups that were already in place, but Irish Rural Link, which initiated this, and the representatives of Sparkasse were excluded. I acknowledge that there was since a debate with the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ring, last week in the Dáil on the issue and it has been announced that the Department of Finance is prepared to meet representatives of Sparkasse next week. However, they need to have their feet under the table to explain the concept that they wish to bring to the country and not have others decide if it is a good idea.
Action 50 is the next action on which a parliamentary question was tabled. This relates to the announcement of social inclusion measures to the tune of €37.5 million. It was clear from the first line of the answer that this money was announced in 2015 and that it is only utilising that money.
From the start I homed in on action 6. This relates to the concept that the Minister discussed on the Sean O'Rourke programme, which is the conversion of disused shops to residential properties. Again, the response to the parliamentary question is that there is no detail available yet and that the Government is hoping a working group can develop how it will happen and how the planning process will be avoided, which means councillors will be excluded at local level. Therefore, there was no answer to that question either.
Action 240 relates to an area in which I have a great interest, having been a former worker in the telecommunications industry. It relates to the municipal area networks. We asked the specifics of how the networks were going to be improved. The answer received was that there will be a review of what is already in place. No specifics were given on who was using them or the cost of using them. There was no detail whatsoever. Actions 251 to 254 dealt mainly with rural transport initiatives. In his reply to Deputy Joan Burton, the Minister, Deputy Shane Ross, stated there was an increase. However, the increase of €2 million was only to cover the normal increases that would happen on a year-to-year basis. The other questions were referred to the National Transport Authority.
On a question relating to airports, there was no commitment or answer relating to Waterford Airport, which is the one nearest to me.
Action 76 which was the announcement that nine counties would have their commercial rates revalued was of great interest to me, until I discovered that the same process that has been in place for almost 200 years would be implemented in, or foisted on, nine more counties. In one county, County Roscommon, there was an average increase of 44%. Therefore, there was no news there other than what is already in place.
I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Canney, for taking positive action. The group he set up on the Shannon issue had its first meeting in recent weeks.
I support fully what the Minister is trying to do for rural Ireland. However, we have an action plan with 275 actions. The day after it was announced, I stated that it is not possible to implement 275 actions. What we needed was a plan with seven to ten major actions. I wish the Minister well in her endeavours and will work with her. I have ideas which I would like to discuss with her. I am not coming in here to condemn the Minister. We all have to work together but what is in the plan is a pulling together of actions that are already in place rather than new initiatives, which is what we had hoped to see.
I will leave it at that and thank the Minister again.
I welcome the Minister. I also welcome the plan. All the Departments are feeding into the one plan and will be working together in terms of delivery. It will affect more than 600 towns and villages. I live in a city, but there are many towns and villages bordering it. To me, this plan is about balanced regional development for anywhere outside Dublin and supporting sustainable communities. That is certainly my reading of it.
There were eight regional action plans for jobs.
I was involved in the enterprise office for many years, now the LEOs. The LEOs have been successful. It is about working together and sharing ideas and resources with local businesses and the community. I welcome the emphasis on their role. There has been an increase in the creation of jobs by such enterprises.
It is about creating a positive environment and a message of positivity to the employers. By sending a positive message, we encourage small businesses that are thinking of expanding to avail of the LEOs. The target to create 135,000 jobs outside the Dublin region is to be commended. That will disperse jobs to the regions.
Reference was made to the Atlantic economic corridor. I was at the launch last week of the apprenticeship and traineeship programmes by the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Richard Bruton. There will be 50,000 places on apprenticeship and traineeship programmes. This is very important but the programme has to be spread across the country. The education and training boards and SOLAS are working together on these programmes. There is a need for programmes for the tourism sector because of the shortage of skills in that industry.
There is an aspiration to create 23,000 jobs by 2025 in the agrifood sector. Those in the agrifood business are very concerned about the impact of Brexit. We will need to be vigilant about issues for the food sector.
I am aware that the Minister will set up a review group into which people will feed in information. Vacant properties is an issue in both rural towns and villages and urban areas. I am aware of a pilot scheme to encourage people to come back into the centre of towns. The local authorities need to buy into this plan. There are proposals for developments not too far from where I live and I know that they have been having a problem in trying to get planning permission. The local authorities need to be more flexible.
I have focused on rural tourism since I came to the Seanad. The Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland's Ancient East are mentioned in the programme but the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, recently launched the Shannon Estuary Drive. I would like to see this touring route being included in the programme. There are areas not covered by Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland's Ancient East and the Shannon Estuary Drive goes some way to address this.
I welcome the increased funding to address flood risk areas. A number of areas that have been hit very badly are still awaiting remedial works.
I welcome this initiative and look forward to working with the Minister.
I welcome the plan, but I have a number of concerns, for example, there are 270 action plans in the plan. That is a plan on a plan, which does not make a plan. There is a proposal that by 2020, approximately 135,000 new jobs will be created, but where will the jobs be created?
I represent rural County Carlow and was a councillor for years. What proposals in the plan will benefit County Carlow? I welcome the funding under CLÁR. We did not benefit from funding under the Leader programme for three years. It was a year and a half before a penny came back into the local authorities. I felt the process was totally wrong. The Minister mentioned 4,000 projects but so many projects in Carlow have applied for Leader funding that half of them will not get it. There should be more scope for funding. A great many people have come to me about their projects, but I know that the money is not there to fund them. The Minister must ensure that in the long term, the good projects get the funding. Rural areas such as Carlow have been forgotten.
In the constituency where I live, Carlow-Kilkenny, the post office is a major issue. We still need to focus on post offices, schools, doctors and Garda stations. The opening of Garda stations is vital and is a crucial element of this plan. I hope we will get extra gardaí, but we need to have the presence of gardaí in a Garda station, because the loss of the local garda in a community has a devastating effect on the elderly. People are living longer and we need to ensure they are safe in their community.
While much funding to local authorities has been cut, specific funding for roads and footpaths in towns is needed. All the services that the local authorities provided for the community have been cut. They are not in the Minister's plan and not covered by the capital plan. Like previous speakers who spoke about broadband, it is unacceptable that we are looking at a six to seven-year wait for the roll-out of broadband in certain areas. Broadband is crucial, both for people and jobs.
I refer to two projects in County Carlow. I am sure the Minister is aware of Altamont Gardens, which is the jewel in the crown. I too, like my colleagues, have approached a number of Departments, only to be told that there is no funding. We might get a small amount from the Leader programme if we are lucky. Altamont Gardens, Duckett's Grove and similar areas need funding because they are crucial.
The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, was launching a major housing development under Ireland 2040 this morning, which I welcome, but there is confusion between what the two Ministers are doing for rural Ireland. I hope we can create the 135,000 jobs mentioned in the Action Plan for Rural Development, but what is the plan? Is there a plan for different areas and what is the timescale? I know that 2020 has been mentioned, but areas such as Carlow and Kilkenny and similar areas have been forgotten. There is a two-tier recovery. It is Dublin and then the rest of rural Ireland is forgotten.
The issue for the people I represent is the quality of life. We need to give the people who are living longer the quality of life they deserve.
I welcome the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Heather Humphreys. I know that she has the drive to realise the objectives of the Action Plan for Rural Development and oversee the various targets. This is the antidote to the two-tier economy arising from the massive growth of jobs in the cities and the consequent pressure on housing, schools and infrastructure. In rural Ireland we have empty houses and dilapidated rural towns and villages. As we are all on the one island, the solution to the problem in rural Ireland is to support opportunities.
This is about looking and addressing challenges and making recovery a reality in rural Ireland. As wonderful as it is to live in a rural area, people cannot live on fresh air. The migration to jobs in bigger cities is not unique to Ireland. We see the development of super-cities and super-states in which people leave the land because it cannot sustain them.
That puts pressure on the big urban centres. We have an opportunity in Ireland to try to get a model that works. We can make a template for other parts of the world. I have a number of specific points to make. I welcome the proposal that the Minister will issue grant aid to towns and villages to restore empty shops and houses to residential status in order that people can live in them. This is something I have advocated for in the past few years. I look forward to seeing the pilot project rolled out as quickly as possible. I have already suggested the town of Swinford in my county to the Minister, where studies have been done by a couple of universities and the Border Midland and Western Regional Assembly as groundwork to show how it can be done and to develop a template. We have to face the reality. That is in the context of the new national planning framework which is being developed. How will we recognise revitalisation? We will not see the same number of shops, pubs and cafes in these towns again, but we will need residential accommodation. The measure of success in towns and villages should not be having an FDI company. A lot of pressure is put on towns and villages because the measure of success is often the presence of a multinational. That will not happen everywhere. It has to be very nuanced and that is why there are so many strands to this plan. Working in conjunction with the Action Plan for Jobs it has to be driven on.
There is a strong case for the CLÁR programme to be extended. I welcome the programme and the projects being funded under it in County Mayo and a number of other counties, but it is excluded from towns such as Ballina, Castlebar and Westport. All one has to do is look at the statistics on migration. There are three counties in this country which the last census shows have lost population - Mayo, Sligo and Donegal. The CLÁR programme is particularly targeted at areas that are losing population and where there is disadvantage. These towns cannot be taken from the rural landscape in which they are situated. The idea that they are somehow doing fine or better or that they are not disadvantaged is wrong; they are suffering very similar problems. We must take an holistic approach and consider this population decline. It is highly educated young people who are gone. This investment is needed to attract young people back where there are jobs. My request to the Minister is that she looks at extending it because there is valuable funding there and it would make a big difference in terms of investment and enhancement of those particular towns and the outlying areas.
Senator Maura Hopkins raised the issue of investment in roads and it is in the plan. The reality is we had a massive roads programme with billions of euro being spent for years up until the crash. That has resulted in the construction of major inter-urban routes to most cities. If one draws a line from Galway to County Louth, there are no major inter-urban routes along it. I understand my time is nearly up. There has been a problem with money, but the connectivity is needed there more than ever because these are disadvantaged regions. It should be reflected in Government allocation of funding if there is to be a real solution and a real result for these areas. We have to have roads and we have to have proper public transport.
I will comment on the Leader programme. I have been very much involved in it and seen the benefits on the ground in my area. There have been a lot of disparaging remarks made here about the programme. The reality is that the last time many Leader companies did not get to spend their money, which resulted in the former Minister, Phil Hogan, having to redistribute and assess it. The second thing is when the new CAP was renegotiated and there was a reduction under the Leader programme, the Minister, Deputy Simon Coveney, said that if they could spend the money they had, they could come back and make a case for more. There is a lot of good work done under the Leader programme, but several Leader companies went out of business. They went to the wall and several of them were under investigation. I do not necessarily want to go into that issue, but there were problems with the Leader programme and anybody saying otherwise is not being honest. Let people bring the projects forward and let them spend their money. Is that not the way to go?
I have two requests on that side - the roads and the CLÁR programme and to press on with flood management and defences because where towns have been flooded, one cannot run or sell one's business or house.
I warmly welcome the Minister and say no Minister, particularly this one, needs to be lectured about rural development. She lives in a rural constituency and represents rural and urban. I have no doubt about her commitment and energy to deliver this plan. It is a balanced plan and is one that has been put down and worked out. Key objectives have been set and that is fair. I fully support it. How could one not support 135,000 new jobs by 2020 or increasing the number of overseas visitors by 12%, which is one of the targets?
Other targets are to invest over €50 million in sports, recreational and cultural facilities and to revitalise 600 towns and villages. We do not need to be lectured about the revitalisation of towns. We are hearing it from councils, the Dáil and the Seanad. There has been loads of belly-aching and now there is a plan. There is a proposal and we should be supporting it. If, in two years, people are not delivering then we should come into the Houses, haul the Minister in and tell her she has not delivered.
The Minister has put a plan in place with deliverables and a timeframe and has to be commended for doing for. She said she wants to revitalise all these towns and villages, protect vital local services and ensure all homes and businesses are connected to broadband in the lifespan of this plan. She wants to double the investment in flood relief. I spent last night in Shannon where there was an enormous meeting about the Shannon flood basin at which the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Deputy Seán Canney, spoke. I heard the concerns of farmers who had 100 acres under water for six months. They see hope in the Minister's plan and welcome it. To support 4,000 new community projects is a very ambitious target. It is an enormously ambitious target, but the Minister is committed to it. She has set it out and I admire her. I thank her for it.
I will say a number of other things. This morning in the AV room departmental officials gave us an overview of Ireland 2040 and the plan. It goes hand in hand with this Minister's vision and plan for rural development and balanced regional development. I ask that the Minister's officials and those of the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government take time to send people out to engage with the regional authorities, which represent communities, and the 31 local authorities. They are key stakeholders in delivering on the ground. They are usually the first responders to crises in communities, both rural and urban. The Minister should tap into that resource.
I will caution the Minister on one issue. We saw when we talked about the hedge cutting initiatives how emotive the issue of heritage is. Heritage, landscape and biodiversity are the challenges. We can have both but that is the area we cannot forget. There has to be balance. I ask the Minister to look at environmental issues, biodiversity and all those issues and bring in the stakeholders that are involved in those areas because they have a valid argument too. They need to be looked at carefully.
We will have to diversify the agrifood sector from other forms of traditional agriculture back into the agrifood sector. The mushroom business is in crisis. The horticulture sector, forestry sector, cut flower production and nursery stock production are areas that need to be included because they are also part of it. I thank the Minister and sincerely wish her well.
On a point of order, the forestry sector is not in any kind of trouble. It is possibly one of our greatest and most growing sectors and is sustaining hundreds of jobs.
That is not a point of order.
I did not say that.
That is not right.
I did not say that. I want to correct the record. Every sector should be supported, expanded and diversified. I am saying this through the Chair. We should diversify in terms of tourism on all the issues in forestry. There have been targets set by the Government to expand the forestry sector. It will need that commitment.
Cuirim céad fáilte roimh an Aire. Tá cuid mhaith moltaí anseo agus caithfimid tacú leo. Is maith ann iad agus is maith iad a fheiceáil in aon doiciméad amháin.
There are lots of initiatives here which we all support and it is good to see them all in one document. There is a sense of déjà vu with much of it, though. The actions that are noted are a gathering of actions across Departments and organisations which are happening; therefore, additionality is an issue. I say that with particular reference to the section on the Gaeltacht areas, with which I would be particularly familiar. I have raised issues around the Leader programme with the Minister previously. Leader has been an unmitigated disaster in County Galway, for example, and there is still a huge issue concerning the islands which must be addressed.
There is much discussion on the role of Údarás na Gaeltachta, which I welcome. However, the resources are not being put in place to deliver on this plan. An Indecon report was published a number of years ago which said that Údarás na Gaeltachta needed €12 million per year in its capital budget to retain the level of employment that is there at the moment. Such funding was needed not to add any extra jobs but to deal with the net scenario. The capital budget for Údarás was cut to the bone by Fianna Fáil, from €26 million down to €5 million at one stage. It has gone up now to somewhere between €6 million and €7 million, but it is still far short of the €12 million required just to keep things ticking over, not to mind creating an extra 1,200 jobs in the Gaeltacht areas. The reality on the ground and what is in the plan do not match when it comes to resources and that would be one of my main concerns.
The issue of health services is massive in rural areas. It is welcome that there will be 18 new primary care centres but I would like to find out where they will be located. The other issue is that we already have primary care centres that do not have the staff that are needed. We have never had a fully staffed primary care centre in south Connemara. There is no physiotherapist in all of south Connemara and there is no social worker available to people aged between 18 and 65 years in County Galway. We need to hear how the Departments of Health and Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs are going to ensure those new primary care centres are fully staffed. There is also a big issue with ageing GPs in rural areas, of which I am sure the Minister is aware. There are three GPs in my area who are due to retire in the next 18 months. They are saying it is going to be really difficult to find replacements because the younger GPs do not want to go to rural areas. Again, that is an issue that must be addressed.
The issue of ambulances in rural areas was also mentioned. There are massive areas of rural Ireland that do not have adequate ambulance cover and that must be addressed. The centralisation of services in places like Galway city under hospital groups such as the Saolta University Health Care Group, is very detrimental to rural areas. The fact that people have to travel from County Donegal to Galway to get chemotherapy and other services is totally outrageous. We need a rebalancing within the acute hospital system to make sure such services are provided closer to the people. We also need more investment in primary care services. Addiction services in rural areas are virtually non-existent. Again, we have seen huge cutbacks in addiction services in the west, in particular. Another issue worth mentioning is that of domestic violence supports. The funding for such social supports in rural areas, which are very important, has been cut savagely in recent years.
I note that there is mention of community employment, CE, schemes, Tús, JobPath and so forth and the Intreo offices. However, the reality is that Intreo offices have been closed down in rural areas where they were previously available. There was an office in Carraroe in south Connemara but services were centralised. Now people in that area have to travel into Galway city to avail of the services of the Intreo office. That goes totally against what the Minister has said she wants to achieve in the strategy and it must be addressed by the Minister for Social Protection. If it is intended to provide such services in rural areas, staff must be located in those areas.
On child care, it is obviously very difficult to keep community child care facilities open in rural areas. There are also issues with the levels of pay in that sector. Many people are finding it hard to staff child care centres because it is more attractive for people to work as SNAs in schools and so forth, where the workload is not as heavy and the pay is better. Transport is a massive issue. The rural transport programme has been successful but it needs more money. We need to address the issue of connectivity and we need greater investment in roads infrastructure. We must also overcome issues around designation which have hampered the likes of the N59 in Connemara and the R336 in south Connemara. The western rail corridor must be taken on board.
The Senator's time is up.
There is mention in the report on the Sparkasse model of community banking. I ask the Minister to tell us the position of the Minister for Finance on that issue. I attended a great presentation on it recently and many people agree that it is an interesting model to consider. However, there seems to be some reticence in the Department of Finance in looking at that option.
I refer the Minister to the document published by my party entitled, A New Deal for the West. The big ticket item in that document is the rural proofing of all legislation that comes through these Houses, which would be very useful. If there was a statutory requirement to rural-proof all legislation, we would head off many issues at the pass.
I welcome the Minister and very much welcome this plan to stimulate and support rural Ireland to help it to achieve its full potential. There is no doubt that rural Ireland suffered disproportionately in the upheaval and economic recession that we have experienced in the past ten years. Rural Ireland also suffered during the Celtic tiger period. While there was plenty of cash around and the economy was flying, that cash was misused and rural Ireland lost out in that period. For instance, the national spatial strategy of 2002 envisaged the development of 20 gateway and hub towns, which was a great plan for regional and rural Ireland. However, it was hijacked along the way and political decisions were made not to take any heed of the plan and the proof is in the pudding now. The proof will also be in the pudding for this plan, but it is welcome that this will be measured and monitored along the way. There is major potential in it and if it is fully implemented, it could change the face of rural and regional Ireland.
The plan must be backed up with funding. When the plan was launched, there was some criticism of a lack of sufficient funding. The reality is, however, that many of the areas mentioned in the plan that will be measured have already been provided with funding. We have, for example, the national broadband plan and while everyone in this House would agree that implementation has been slow, that plan is very close to fruition and the money required has been provided. The implementation of the broadband plan will change the face of rural Ireland.
This Government and its predecessor have had to pick up the pieces after the economic crash. During the boom times, jobs and infrastructure were not put in place in rural and regional Ireland. Hundreds of thousands of houses were built in the wrong places. There were no jobs to sustain them and no infrastructure to link them. That was the problem at the time and I could give many examples. We do not want to make the same mistakes again.
I very much welcome the other plan that was launched today by the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney entitled, Ireland 2040 - Our Plan. If we continue in the current manner, the east coast of Ireland will be choked while the west coast and the rest of regional and rural Ireland will be devoid of development. This is the last chance saloon, in effect. No matter what Government is in place, we need to lay the foundations now so that the plans cannot be tinkered with along the way. I wish the Minister well in implementing this plan because it is our children and our children's children who will benefit from it.
Several times a week I get into my car to drive from Athlone to Dublin and I cannot help but notice how the volume of traffic grows as I pass every exit. Even more striking is the fact that most of the traffic is going in one direction. We should be bringing jobs to the people rather than people to the jobs.
Leaving aside de Valera’s vision of comely maidens dancing at the crossroads, the true pioneers of rural development include John Healy, formerly of The Irish Times, and one of my political heroes, John Hume. John Healy has sadly left us and John Hume has retired from active politics, but the need to focus clearly on the development of rural Ireland is no less now than it was in their day. Figures from EUROSTAT show that Ireland has one of the highest shares of people living in rural areas of almost any EU country. Our own census shows that the population of the country is growing significantly. However, when one digs further into the statistics, there is no doubt that there is a migration from rural to urban areas. Between 2011 and 2016, for example, the population of Longford-Westmeath fell by over 1,300. That is why I welcomed the launch of the Action Plan for Rural Development in the constituency of Longford-Westmeath by the Minister and the Taoiseach. I thank the Minister for this as it is an area close to my heart.
This plan, unlike some others before it, sets out specific actions which will have measurable benefits to those living in rural areas. It is not, for example, like Fianna Fáil’s decentralisation plan, a political stroke worked out on the back of a cigarette packet to get maximum headlines and to fool the electorate. This action plan can and will be measured. When the Fine Gael-led Government launched its Action Plan for Jobs in 2011, the Opposition heaped scorn and commentators said it could never be done. Six years later, the targets have been smashed and the unemployment rate has more than halved. Long-term unemployment, youth unemployment and general unemployment have been reduced significantly. While the progress has confounded the naysayers, there is still a way to go. The focus for the coming years must be on building up the towns and villages of the midlands particularly, as well as those along the Atlantic seaboard.
The Action Plan for Rural Development takes a similar systematic approach. It outlines, for example, investment in 600 towns and villages, a 12% increase in tourist numbers and the creation of 135,000 jobs outside Dublin. These are real measurable initiatives which will improve the lives of people living in rural Ireland. I am not suggesting we should be blindly optimistic and ignore any of the problems. However, we need to be positive and constructive in our approach to rural Ireland.
Rural development is a key means of achieving equality, of making social change and improving the lives of those men and women who want to live in their own areas. I see this plan as a welcome step on that road. It is an approach where the Government and communities work together for a brighter future and which will yield results.
I welcome the Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys. I also welcome the Action Plan for Rural Development.
I live on the outskirts of Limerick city in Castletroy which has a large number of rural villages around it such as Castleconnell, Cappamore, Murroe and Caherconlish. On the County Clare side, there are villages such as Parteen and Ardnacrusha. In the main, they have all become commuter villages. They are rural in orientation but many of the people who live in them commute to jobs in Limerick city. I would like to see this element integrated into the Minister’s proposal. How do we get to a point where these satellite towns do not just become commuter housing estates but are maintained as vibrant areas?
It is welcome that the Minister is introducing a pilot scheme to encourage residential occupancy in town and village centres. Many elderly people who live on their own in rural areas would now like to live in villages. Voluntary housing bodies are looking to build a small number of units in villages. As an aside, I must point out that the process by which they can apply for funding to the point where they can turn the sod for the beginning of a development is too bureaucratic and slow. It needs to be examined. Cappamore, a village in my area, has a fantastic community centre, library and pubs surviving against the grain. There is an immediate need to get voluntary housing schemes up and running for elderly people who would like to move into villages such as Cappamore. However, to qualify for voluntary housing, one needs to have a defined need under local authority guidelines. For a person living in a single farmhouse, there is a possibility he or she might not qualify as it would be deemed as a home. This needs to be examined.
A range of measures such as tax designation, a grant or a revised first-time buyer’s scheme, are needed to encourage occupancy in towns and villages. Central to that, we must support rural schools and post offices. Unfortunately, during the recession the banks exploited the downturn to close rural bank branches. The post offices can pick up the slack in that regard. The credit union movement also deserves our support. Credit unions have come through a rough time. When I was a chartered accountant, I knew many small businesses which would have gone to the wall if they had not been supported by their credit union.
Broadband provision in Castleconnell, Cappamore, Murroe and Caherconlish is reasonably good but needs to be further enhanced. We have to look at giving exponential supports through IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and the local enterprise office, LEOs, for businesses in villages. There are many fantastic people in villages who want to make them thrive. The action plan is a defined support from the Government which shows we want to rejuvenate rural Ireland. Rural towns within a 15-mile radius of a city also need to be integrated into this plan.
I commend the Minister for the action plan.
More Members wish to speak about this matter. To accommodate them, we will need to extend the time allocated for the debate.
I propose we extend the time to 2.40 p.m.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak about the Action Plan for Rural Development. At the heart of the plan is a clear and targeted commitment to improve the lives of those living and working in rural areas. This is the first time we have had a comprehensive action plan to support and revitalise rural Ireland, an action for which I compliment the Minister. I know that she is passionate about the need to champion the case of rural communities. This action plan is determined to ensure rural communities have increased opportunities for work and access to public services and social networks to support a high quality of life.
On the main streets of many towns and villages, including mine, there used to be thriving businesses and everybody lived above the premises. On the main street of my town there were at least 150 people living over the shops, including parents and children. The current number could be as low as two or three. There are many opportunities, facilities and buildings in every town and village that could well be utilised for housing and other measures. The retailers on the streets in question are under tremendous pressure owing to out-of-town shopping in stores such as Lidl, Aldi and Tesco. There certainly needs to be smaller, indigenous, artisan trades which could be given tax incentives. The Minister is examining all of these measures which I very much welcome.
The action plan contains five key pillars, with the aim of improving the social and economic fabric of rural communities. The objectives of supporting sustainable communities, enterprise and employment and fostering culture and creativity in rural areas are very much a plus. Other objectives are maximising rural tourism and recreation potential and improving road infrastructure and connectivity. Before I became involved in politics, I lived near Lough Key Forest Park which in the 1970s was a significant tourist attraction. I was chairman of the Lough Key Forest Park action group. With the local authority and Coillte, we drew down €12 million to €15 million in EU regional investment funds. Some €15 million has been spent on Lough Key Forest Park which is a jewel of tourism in the country and attracting tens of thousands of visitors. It was rated as the sixth most important visitor attraction in the country. It has 50 people employed and Moylurg Rockingham, a partnership between Roscommon County Council and Coillte, made €200,000. The development killed about five birds with the one stone. It was initially said they did not own the park and that it was owned by Coillte. I brought the various interested parties together, including Roscommon County Council, and we drew down €2 million. That loan has been repaid and we now own the park.
Unfortunately, in my town, Boyle, which is only two or three miles from the park, the two hotels are closed. Hotels were built in towns and villages all around the country, but the town that actually needs a hotel does not have one. I acknowledge that we missed the boom times or the Celtic tiger, but we desperately need a flagship hotel. Considerable work has been done through the local town teams in Castlerea, Boyle and Ballaghaderreen, where Senator Maura Hopkins is from. They are great initiatives and take politics out of the equation. They do not involve the chamber of commerce or the town council. The town teams are the way forward in working with the council. However, we do not have a hotel. Unless there is some tax incentive or major stimulus to get somebody to build and operate a hotel, we will have huge problems. There are many towns similar to Boyle, but I am mentioning it as one example. The forest park is a mile and a half from it, but we do not have the facilities to bring in tourists. The local hotel, the Royal Hotel, which is ancient is for sale, but it is effectively a site. Nobody in his or her right mind would buy it, unless he or she was given considerable assistance through tax incentives or grants. If these were made available, it would improve the tourism fabric. There is tourism potential. Boyle Abbey is a 12th century Cistercian abbey. We have King House, on which we worked very closely with former President Mary McAleese who has donated gifts to it. However, we do not have the flagship hotel to attract tourists. They come in but drive out. I know that this is an area in which the Minister absolutely believes.
There is no hotel in Ballaghaderreen and Castlerea. Thankfully, there is one in Strokestown. We need tourism infrastructure. Ballaghaderreen is beside Lough Gara, while Castlerea is beside Clonalis House. A hotel is not just for tourists. It provides a facility for weddings or funerals and is a place where people can go for a coffee. We need that infrastructure. I acknowledge the Minister is passionately interested, but this is one aspect we need to have sorted out.
I am delighted to welcome the Minister. As her constituency colleague, I know at first hand that she has a genuine passion for rural regeneration and this work.
I am happy to note in the plan that there is to be a monitoring commission and that the plan will be monitored constantly. It is not an aspirational document. That merits repetition. I trust that the Minister will update the House regularly on the monitoring of the plan which is not a paternalistic, patronising document, implying that rural Ireland needs help; rather, it examines the potential and opportunities in rural Ireland. I also welcome that dimension. We are not people who need help but who need an opportunity to realise our potential. All the pillars, aspirations and aims outlined in the plan are supported by money. That is important. For flood risk management, there is an allocation of €80 million. Some €28 million has been committed for towns and villages, €12 million for village renewal, €5 million for the CLÁR programme and €2.8 million for the built heritage. Some €1.3 million has been allocated for Heritage Council schemes, while €275 million has been allocated for broadband provision. I say this to get rid of the erroneous impression that the plan has not been costed and is not specific. It is specific and has been costed and will be monitored.
On the jobs issue, I can only reference a few points quickly, but they are important to me. We all know that there will be potential to attract industries after Brexit. Mr. Shanahan of IDA Ireland has grasped that opportunity and is following up with as many as 1,400 international companies. That is good. What I want to do - we are very fortunate the Minister is present to do it with us - is locate quite a few of the jobs in rural Ireland. I do not have to tell the Minister that the Border region needs these jobs and to experience inward investment. We have a great, well developed indigenous sector. Why should the Border region not have inward investment like everywhere else? We have the necessary infrastructure and educational facilities.
The tourism initiatives included in the plan are good. I am in favour of and welcome them. Reference was made yesterday to the Gathering. There is enormous potential in the concept of the Irish diaspora abroad, on which I urge the Minister to keep working. I was involved on a committee in my area in organising a school reunion. It brought home hundreds of people, some of whom had never been back before. They are now coming back and in touch. Tapping into the diaspora is the key to tourism promotion. Members of the diaspora can be relied on to return as tourists and spend.
I am all in favour of the proposal to get people living over shops again in towns. It has to be made attractive and grant aided. When will there be specific action in that regard? I would like to see it.
Rural post offices are vital. As the Minister's brief covers rural areas, I would like to see her supervising, working with and encouraging her colleagues in the Cabinet to ensure there will be financial services in post offices and a range of attractive features such as tourist information services. The post office should be a one-stop shop for so many activities and should be attractive. We want to keep rural post offices open.
Broadband is the big issue. I probably should have started with it, but I wanted to refer to job creation in rural areas, including Cavan and Monaghan. Providing broadband in Cavan, Monaghan and every other rural area is crucial. I met a woman downstairs who was buying boosters to have broadband in her house. We need broadband in every home. How does the Minister see this coming to fruition?
An area that is close to the Minister's heart and professional background is that of the credit unions. When I was doing a little background reading before making a few remarks today in the limited time we have available, I came across a proposition made by a Mr. McLoughlin, who is involved in community development in County Offaly. He states 1% of credit union moneys or lending potential should be directed towards local job creation initiatives. The Minister is more au fait with this matter than anyone in the Chamber. Mr. McLoughlin pointed out that the typical local credit union could have €25 million in resources. One per cent of this sum is €250,000, which could be mandated for investment in a job creation project in the village.
I appeal to the Minister to so do. I am a great believer in inward investment but I also believe we need to support indigenous jobs. In that regard, the indigenous jobs in our area in the agri-sector are very important. I note that I am beginning to attract the ire and angst of our distinguished Acting Chairman so I will not say much more.
Senator Joe O'Reilly said that before and he went on for another minute.
Even in the lead-in to Brexit, there must be direct support in terms of tax relief and interventions for the agriculture sector in the Border region which will be savaged. That is my final appeal.
I thank the Acting Chair for her indulgence.
I thank Senators for their contributions. I very much welcome their input. This is the first ever cross-Government approach to rural Ireland. The Action Plan for Rural Development is a living document with the capacity to add further actions over its lifetime. I am happy to hear further suggestions from Senators on how we can target other areas also.
Senator John O'Mahony is correct in saying many of the commitments in the action plan involve new policy initiatives and will not necessarily require additional funding to have a positive impact. Through the Action Plan for Rural Development, the Government wants to empower rural communities to maximise their strengths. I do not have all the solutions but through a concerted joined-up approach, one which is based on community-led development, I am of the view that we can make a real difference to rural communities.
I can assure Senator Gabrielle McFadden that we had a wonderful day in Ballymahon. It is my intention and that of the Government to make the plan work.
Senators Maria Byrne and Joe O'Reilly referred to the monitoring committee. I will convene a meeting of the new monitoring committee for the action plan in the coming weeks. That will provide an opportunity to identify and agree further actions and to facilitate ongoing discussion with the stakeholders in the implementation of the current actions. To be clear, I will exert pressure on my fellow Ministers and their Departments to carry out their actions. In that way they can leverage more money into rural areas. I did it for the 2016 commemorations, although not on my own, and it was done by mobilising support and working with local authorities and local communities. It was a bottom-up approach. Many people said that would not happen but it did. It was a very successful collaborative way of working in partnership with the various stakeholders and especially with local authorities who were wonderful in terms of that initiative. This is a new but similar type of challenge and I am confident that if we work together and ensure it is done properly and effectively it can make a real difference with the seed capital of €60 million from the Department.
I wish to correct the record on what has been said on broadband. As the debate progressed, more years were added in respect of the broadband plan. It is incorrect to say the broadband plan will not be implemented until 2022. The plan is being implemented and, to date, 1.4 million premises have access to broadband because of Government policy. Towns all over Ireland now have access to high-speed broadband and the telecoms sector is continuing to invest with more services to be rolled out. The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Denis Naughten, is managing a major procurement process to deliver broadband to premises that will not be covered by the commercial sector. He is from a rural constituency and it is a priority for him and the Government to ensure every home will have high speed broadband. I wish to be very clear in that regard. Senator Rose Conway-Walsh mentioned services in County Mayo. High speed broadband services are being made available in Belmullet from March. Approximately 420 premises will have access to high speed broadband from next month.
How many premises altogether?
That is good news. We need to continue to work on it. Sometimes good news does not sit well with some people.
I very much welcome it but I want all of the houses to be covered.
Order, please. The has made her point.
Can it be done from the outside in?
That is a fact. It is good news.
I am disappointed.
Senator Kieran O'Donnell mentioned elderly people in isolated rural areas who want to move into towns and villages. I fully agree with what he said. The attitude is changing and people want to move into towns where they can access services. As the House is aware, I am examining a pilot scheme in the latter half of this year to encourage people to move back into town centres. Senator Michelle Mulherin has been promoting such an initiative and highlighted it at every opportunity. If people live in towns it re-energises the town and business will follow. I will also work with the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, because he has initiatives such as change of use for planning. He is working with local authorities on the issue of social housing. I will take up with him the matter raised by Senator Kieran O'Donnell.
I agree with Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell that it is imperative that we put the arts and culture at the centre of Irish life. That is what Creative Ireland, the plan I launched before Christmas, will do. It is about putting creativity and culture at the centre of communities right across this country, enabling the creative potential of every child and investing in creative and cultural infrastructure. Ireland is a centre of excellence in media production. The Senator s correct that we must unify our global reputation and showcase Ireland as a country that values arts and culture. In terms of tourism also we must reach out to the diaspora. Arts and culture are the glue that holds society together.
I agree with Senator Maura Hopkins that the creative sector also has huge potential in rural areas. The rural economic developments zones, REDZ, programme that was announced late last year supported a number of exciting projects.
Senator Joe O'Reilly was very pleased with a project in Bailieborough that got support from the programme. It involved local communities working with local authorities and coming up with solutions. Some speakers outlined towns that need support. Those towns that need support must mobilise and put in their applications because I cannot deliver if the applications do not come in. Communities and businesses must work together in a ground-up approach.
There are five priorities in the plan, namely, supporting communities, creating jobs, increasing tourism, supporting and encouraging culture and creativity and improving connectivity. There are 275 actions. Some said that is too many but as far as I am concerned that is not the case. It is an ambitious project and rural Ireland deserves ambition. Why not be ambitious?
Hear, hear.
All of the actions must come together. This is the first ever cross-government, co-ordinated approach to rural Ireland. Real jobs are being created. The best yardstick to measure it is the unemployment figures which are down from 15% to 7%. We will continue to work on them. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Leo Varadkar, has further initiatives to get people who are long-term unemployed back into the jobs market. The one real measure is the drop in unemployment.
We need to continue to work on that mesure also. I believe I have covered all of the issues.
I emphasise how much I believe in the potential of rural communities. I see the resilience, resourcefulness and tenacity of my own rural community. Parishes were mentioned. I am from the parish of Aghabog in County Monaghan and understand the strength of parishes. Some people say Ireland is made up of parishes. When one goes to America, all they want to know is the parish one is from. I believe in the strength of those parishes and if we tap into that resourcefulness, commitment and community, we will ensure rural Ireland will succeed.
As I said previously, rural Ireland does not need to be saved; it just needs to be supported. That is what I want to do through this plan. I want to change that narrative, and this plan means that Departments will have to rural-proof their decisions. In everything they intend to do, they will have to consider rural Ireland. I do not believe that happened in the past. When Ministers are making decisions, they will have to consider the impact those decisions will have on rural Ireland.
Rural Ireland can and does make a huge contribution to the economy through innovative industries, thriving community activism, new approaches to attracting tourism and its commitment to creativity and culture. I accept there are challenges, but we want to address those challenges by maximising the full potential of rural communities.
In terms of job creation, 72% of jobs created in 2016 were outside the greater Dublin area. Mention was made of credit unions. Credit unions are mentioned in the plan. I very much want to work with them because that is another wonderful voluntary and community organisation that we can partner with in terms of initiatives across rural Ireland.
Services were mentioned. There is an explicit commitment in the action plan that no rural school will be closed against the wishes of the parents. The Department of Health will increase general practitioner services in rural communities, while the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ring, will shortly bring proposals to the Government to support the post office network. Also, 50,000 apprenticeships will be provided across the country by 2020. That is very important.
I again thank Senators for their contributions.