Dara Calleary
Mayo · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“Agriculture is the backbone. We have all been in the Mansion House today, or everyone has said they were anyway. Energy security is key and crucial. Everybody wants energy security but nobody wants wind energy. We have to strike a balance and get a real discussion, but food security is most important.”
“While we have gaps there, we are addressing them. The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has announced the minor injury units, which will take the pressure off major hospitals and ensure services are available.”
“Recent figures from the CSO show that there is a 5.8% increase in the number of people living in rural areas between 2016 and 2022. In areas classified as highly rural and remote, the increase was 6.4%.”
“Enterprise Ireland is investing in Irish-owned, Irish-founded companies. Similarly, 59% of IDA investments were located outside the Dublin region. We will continue to work, looking at the progress we can make through the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and, as Senator O'Loughlin said, through supporting our local enterprise offices.”
“That is something we do daily and they are used where is necessary. The plan will be supported by ambitious, clear, practical and measurable actions. I have spoken to some of the funding programmes available within my Department.”
“Táim tar éis cuairt a thabhairt ar gach ceantar Gaeltachta chun plé fairsing a dhéanamh leis na pobail sin chun a fháil amach uathu féin cén cineál tacaíochta ar féidir a chur ar fáil dóibh chun cabhrú leo. Táim chun leanúint ar aghaidh leis an obair sin sa bhuiséad le teacht agus na buiséid eile.”
The complete record
Every one of 2,162 lines we hold for Dara Calleary, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 6 of 44.
“Beidh mé i gcathair na Gaillimhe an tseachtain seo chugainn le haghaidh Ghradam Sheosaimh Uí Ógartaigh, scéim iontach a thugann aitheantas agus cuidiú do chomhlachtaí atá i nGaillimh ach taobh amuigh den Ghaeltacht chun an Ghaeilge a úsáid i príomhchathair na Gaeilge. Tá an scéim sin tábhachtach. Beimid in ann an Ghaeilge a cheiliúradh taobh amuigh den Ghaeltacht anseo.”
“Tuigim an dualgas an Ghaeilge nó an Ghaeltacht a chosaint. Tá sé sin lárnach i mo chuid oibre. B’fhéidir go mbeidh seans againn an tsuirbhé shuimiúil ó Fhoras na Gaeilge, a foilsíodh an tseachtain seo, a phlé sa Teach. Leagann sé amach figiúirí an-úsáideacha don chomhrá seo. Leagann sé dúshlán amach agus cuireann sé na figiúirí ar fáil. Is é seo an chéad uair go bhfuil an t-eolas againn ar na dearcthaí sin agus beimid in ann cuidiú leis seo. Mar a dúirt mé, tá na scéimeanna ann. Táimid ag cuidiú le daoine Gaeilge a úsáid taobh amuigh den Ghaeltacht. Labhair mé faoi na scéimeanna sin freisin. Tá gradaim ghnó Ghlór na nGael ann do dhaoine atá in ann Gaeilge a úsáid gach lá agus iad i mbun gnó – i ngnóthaí beaga agus iad ag siopadóireacht. Tá sé sin tábhachtach freisin.”
“Tá maoiniú ag Gaeloideachas chun earnáil na luathblianta Gaeilge a fhorbairt. Tá maoiniú suntasach ag Oireachtas na Gaeilge chun na healaíona teangabhunaithe agus líonra Gaeilge sna seirbhísí poiblí a fhorbairt. Tá a lán slite ina bhfuilimid ag cuidiú leis an nGaeilge taobh amuigh den Ghaeltacht. Aontaím leis an Teachta go bhfuil deiseanna agus fuinneamh ag cúrsaí Gaeilge ag an bpointe seo. Caithfimid cuidiú leis sin agus é a spreagadh. Tá sé i ngach cuid den tír. Is é sin an rud is tábhachtaí dom.”
“Aontaím go mór leis an Teachta. Beidh sé suimiúil é sin a phlé lá eile. Faoi scéimeanna tacaíochta Gaeilge i mo Roinn, cuirtear maoiniú suntasach ar fáil do thionscnaimh éagsúla chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn taobh amuigh den Ghaeltacht. Déantar sin trí eagraíochtaí, lena n-áirítear Conradh na Gaeilge, Glór na nGael, Gaeloideachas, Gael Linn agus Oireachtas na Gaeilge. Faigheann na heagraíochtaí sin a mbunmhaoiniú ó Fhoras na Gaeilge. Tugann mo Roinn maoiniú breise dóibh le haghaidh tionscnaimh straitéiseacha chun úsáid na teanga a chur chun cinn. I nGael Linn tá an scéim Gaelbhratach do scoileanna. I nGlór na nGael, tá scéim teanga tí ag cur úsáid na Gaeilge sa bhaile chun cinn. Úsáideann Conradh na Gaeilge an ciste spreagtha a chothaíonn úsáid na teanga ag imeachtaí pobail thart ar sheachtain na Gaeilge.”
“Is é an aidhm atá leis an scéim forbartha líonraí Gaeilge - scéim eile de chuid Fhoras na Gaeilge - ná an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn, a chothú agus a bhuanú ar bhonn ceantair le béim faoi leith ar fhorbairt agus ar fheidhmiú pleananna teanga cuimsitheacha do na ceantair sin rannpháirteach sa scéim. Tá an bhéim sa scéim seo ar phleanáil níos fadtéarmaí agus níos straitéisí, de réir phrionsabail na pleanála teanga. Bítear ag súil go mbeadh sé mar chuspóir ag an iarratasóir aitheantas mar líonra Gaeilge a ghnóthú amach anseo don cheantar atá rannpháirteach sa scéim. Cur chuige céimnitheach atá beartaithe sa scéim seo; dá réir sin, aithnítear trí chéim forbartha - ardchéim, meánchéim agus bunchéim.”
“In 2015, fuair cúig cheantar aitheantas mar líonraí Gaeilge, is é sin go n-aithnítear iad mar cheantar taobh amuigh den Ghaeltacht ina bhfuil mais chriticiúil de chainteoirí Gaeilge agus tacaíocht Stáit agus seirbhísí ar fáil don phobal sa teanga. Is iad na líonraí a fuair aitheantas ná Cluain Dolcáin, Baile Locha Riach agus Inis faoi Acht na Gaeltachta agus iarthar Bhéal Feirste agus Carn Tóchair faoin scéim neamhreachtúil atá á riar ag Foras na Gaeilge sa Tuaisceart. Feidhmíonn pobail na Gaeilge sna líonraí seo trí ghréasáin shóisialta agus bíonn ceanneagraíocht áitiúil i mbun forbartha ar na pobail ghréasáin sin.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as an invitation go dtí Port Láirge. Beimid ann i gceann cúpla seachtain. Táim ag súil leis an gcuairt sin. Mar a dúirt mé, tá scéim le haghaidh árais phobail. Tá sé ag oscailt. Tá scéim le haghaidh árais phobail nua ag oscailt an bhliain seo chugainn. Beimid in ann é sin a reáchtáil. Faoi Acht na Gaeltachta, 2012, tugtar aitheantas do líonra Gaeilge nuair a bhíonn pleananna teanga aontaithe acu lena bpobal. Ní mór do na pleananna sin na critéir pleanála teanga a chomhlíonadh le go dtabharfar an t-aitheantas cuí dóibh. Tá Foras na Gaeilge freagrach as tacú le heagraíochtaí maidir le hullmhúchán agus feidhmiú pleananna teanga sna líonraí Gaeilge.”
“Small investments will deliver security to a community. I hear the Deputy 100%. We will engage with the Department of justice around community safety partnerships as well. Definitely, we will reflect on his point about initiative exhaustion. That is very real. For this to be successful, we have to ensure that people have faith in it.”
“I know, and the Deputy has touched on something there about initiative exhaustion. That is important because we are often asking the same people in communities to lead out on these on the ground. We are generally always asking the same people in local authorities and in local development companies to drive these on the ground. That is something both the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I will reflect on. It is important that we get the scheme back, that we have it on the books of the Department, that it grows in the years to come and that it will make a difference. I think the difference will be measured over a number of years. When I was with the Deputy in his constituency in the winter, I saw a couple of areas where small capital investments would make a big difference. They do not have to be trophy projects or massive projects.”
“Third, as soon as we get a launch, we will engage in terms of budget negotiations for 2027 and 2028 and to the end of the lifetime of this Government to ensure we can begin to build this up. Whereas €5 million is a small investment, I think it is one that will make a difference in many of these communities if it is targeted appropriately and correctly into facilities that have been identified from within the community.”
“I thank the Deputy for the invitation. We will bear it in mind. There will be relevant areas in the Deputy's constituency, which is not something we should be proud about. There has not been an urban disadvantage programme that includes capital investment. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, is doing huge work with SICAP but this programme needs to make a difference and we need to ensure it is not wasted and the money goes directly to projects and communities. What I do not want is for it to go into administration or stuff that will not deliver to the communities we want to target it at. Second, it will be evidence based and massive work. I thank the officials in the Department, who are putting in massive work to try to ensure we have a solid evidence base.”
“The County and City Management Association, CCMA, the Local Development Companies Network and other Government Departments have also been consulted. The level of information we now have about disadvantage in Ireland has increased enormously since the original RAPID programme was launched. Building on that evidence, the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I are determined that the new programme will become a solid foundation for ongoing targeted investment in our urban areas of greatest need. We have also been clear that a €5 million budget is not going to change things overnight. We want to ensure that this programme is back in place, grows in the years to come and is seen to make a difference on the ground in our most disadvantaged urban communities.”
“According to the revised Pobal HP deprivation index, post-census 2022, the gap between Ireland's most disadvantaged areas and the national average has increased. Furthermore, the number of people living in areas classed as very or extremely disadvantaged has also increased. The purpose of this new initiative is to focus on these areas to provide support for the development of much-needed infrastructure identified by the communities themselves. We need to ensure that the scheme is robust, evidence-based and fit for purpose, and directly targets the areas most in need of support. We have conducted extensive research in the development of the new scheme. We have had discussions with experts from the ESRI, the Central Statistics Office and Pobal to inform the evidence base.”
“I thank the Deputy for his ongoing interest in this issue. As he knows, the current programme for Government commits to the establishment of a new communities initiative, similar in style to the previous RAPID programme, whereby all State agencies work together to implement community development and town centre rejuvenation. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I prioritised the development of this programme in 2026. We are in a position to announce €5 million in capital funding. We are currently finalising the details of what that scheme may look like, and hope to be able to launch it ahead of the summer. Considerations that are informing our work in the development of the programme include the changed demographic and socioeconomic landscape in Ireland.”
“I will be visiting island in the coming weeks around enhanced communications infrastructure. All of that must happen under scaffolding and requires a policy document. That is why we are engaging in bilateral meetings at ministerial level around Our Rural Future. We must ensure that every Department understands it has responsibilities for the future of rural Ireland and cannot delegate all of those responsibilities to my Department. Our Rural Future in an all-of-government document. The action plan that comes with it will be an all-of-government document. It will assign responsibility, actions and targets to the various Departments and I will monitor their delivery. We will ensure they are delivered between now and 2028 in the first iteration of the programme.”
“The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I are opening CCIF again. Separate from our Department, there is also the ongoing progress of the national broadband plan, a €3 billion investment in the communications infrastructure of rural Ireland. That will be finished next year. There is also the rural mobility plan, which the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, leads out at the Department of Transport, and will include the delivery of more than 180 new or enhanced public transport services. There is also work ongoing in my old Department with the regional enterprise plans and various initiatives that are regionally targeted, focusing on the different strengths of our regions. As we have already discussed this morning, there is also the town centre first initiative across the country. We continue to invest our island communities.”
“I thank the Deputy. We were delighted to be with him in Baile Bhuirne in April, which is a good example of Departments working together under the RRDF, Roinn na Gaeltachta agus Údaras na Gaeltachta to reimagine Coláiste Íosagáin into the hub that it is now. That was a good example of Departments coming together. We have invested €440 million in 160 RRDF projects since 2020. We have invested €140 million in over 1,000 town and village renewal projects since 2020 and €110 million in over 1,200 projects under the outdoor recreation investment scheme since 2020. We have invested €65 million in 1,500 projects through CLÁR since 2020. Through the community centres investment fund, CCIF, we have invested €112 million across new builds, including one in Rylane in the Deputy's constituency, since its launch in 2020.”
“All of the projects we visit give us a drive to keep doing this work and to ensure the new Our Rural Future document will be different. It will build on previous work but it must be different and relevant to Ireland between 2026 and 2030. Many of the submissions we have got reflect that ambition. They reflect the challenges but also reflect a new ambition and outside-the-box thinking. As I said in my initial response, the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I met the GAA demographics committee to get under the bonnet of those population figures. While the OECD report was very positive, the GAA demographics committee gives us much more of the reality on the ground and, most importantly, of the disparity on the ground in rural population figures. That is something we will be targeting under the RRDF.”
“We recently announced a partnership with Coillte to invest further in a programme that, since 2020, has delivered €16 million to develop rural trails and services to open up enterprise initiatives. I thank Coillte for its work on this. My officials are engaging with Coillte to develop a further programme. We have already mentioned the RRDF programme, the town and village renewal programme and the outdoor recreation investment scheme. Those schemes are bringing economic opportunities that are sustainable and job-creating. They are brining infrastructure investment into rural areas, which will allow for long-term development. We have looked at the reawakening of rural communities, such as the Shackleton Experience in Athy and the projects in Laois and Kerry that I had the pleasure of visiting some weeks back.”
“I am very much focused on and in alignment with the Deputy's vision. We have made significant progress. Through budget 2026, we are investing €600 million in communities across the country, particularly through the rural development investment programme, which will see a total of €192 million invested this year. The various initiatives have been developed in capital programmes in a targeted way, but also, as I have said consistently this morning, they are directed and owned by communities, either through local authorities or local development companies. It is important that this is not coming from the Department but from communities across the country. I was particularly delighted to announce the community centre investment programme, which is not just for rural areas but is very much focused on them. It will open next week.”
“These findings align with the analysis of the OECD, which, in its review, found that rural and remote regions in Ireland recorded the highest population growth of all OECD countries between 2001 and 2021. Of course, there are significant variations within these figures, and I very much recognise that there are rural areas that face particular challenges. Ensuring the sustainability and attractiveness of all rural areas remains a key focus of the Government. The development of our new Our Rural Future policy and the full range of schemes being delivered by the Department focus on this.”
“In addition to the policy setting out the key priorities in each pillar, a series of ambitious, clear, practical and measurable actions will be developed and outlined in the accompanying action plan, which will cover the initial period, until the end of 2028. The policy and the associated action plan are nearing completion. We are continuing to work with ministerial colleagues to finalise this process. We are beginning a series of bilateral meetings with a view to bringing a draft of the policy to the Government over the summer. On the issue of depopulation, recent figures from the Central Statistics Office show the population of highly rural and remote areas increased by 6.4% between 2016 and 2022.”
“The new policy will continue our whole-of-government approach, building on the progress and investment that have been delivered to date and setting out a renewed and refreshed vision for the years ahead. With this in mind, I recently brought an update to a Cabinet meeting in relation to the development of a new policy and our shared approach to delivering ambitious and measurable actions across government. Informed by the results of the consultations and the OECD review, the new Our Rural Future policy will be based around five interconnected policy pillars, focusing on rural places, rural services, rural communities, the rural economy and the rural environment.”
“The Rural Youth Assembly was directly consulted to ensure the voices of young people are being fully considered in this process. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I, along with our officials, have held bilateral meetings with key stakeholders and representative groups, including the GAA demographics group, Departments and public bodies. The key themes emerging include supporting local economies and strengthening the resilience and sustainability of rural towns, villages and communities, all with a view to promoting balanced regional development. The development of the new policy has also been informed by an independent review of rural policy in Ireland, which was carried out by a panel of international experts from the OECD.”
“I propose to take Questions Nos. 96, 125 and 137 together. I thank Deputy O'Shea for his question. The Our Rural Future policy is delivering vital investment and supports to rural areas, strengthening local economies and improving quality of life across rural Ireland. Our programme for Government includes a commitment to publish and implement a new Our Rural Future policy. The development of this policy has been informed by very extensive public and stakeholder consultation, which took place throughout 2025. It gathered the views of over 2,000 participants. The engagement included an online survey, a series of eight public and stakeholder events, including one in Charleville, and a public written consultation, which received more than 270 responses.”
“The initiative is not just coming from city hall or county hall in Fingal; the community is running it. We had the privilege of meeting the Tidy Towns group and various other groups with the Deputy. Pride in the area is evident but we need to protect it, invest in it and, as the Deputy said at the outset, invest in the heart of the village.”
“Absolutely. The Deputy is very much pushing an open door here. The Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, Deputy Chambers, has had similar discussions with me on this issue. The Minister of State in my Department, Deputy Buttimer, has mentioned Bishopstown, Douglas and other villages in Cork. We need to keep the focus on the actual scheme, however. The scheme has been successful. It has been tightly defined in terms of projects and what can be achieved. We have to be realistic about what can be done in a rural area versus a city area in terms of budgets and the availability of space on the ground. The most important thing the Deputy mentioned is how various organisations within her hometown, Castleknock, are being asked for their opinions first.”
“I had a good visit with the Deputy to Castleknock Community Centre and saw the amazing work being done there through community employment and other schemes. We are very much working on this. The town centre first policy should do what it says on the tin, and it is for towns and villages regardless of where they are.”
“I like the concept of the village heart. We have worked and models in Fingal, St. Margaret's, Rush and Ballyboughal. We ensured funding under town and village renewal. They are more rural villages and meet the population criteria. I have asked my officials to examine those examples with a view to a pilot. I cannot comment on budget 2027. It is far too early to actually comment on it but regardless of budget, we have to look at the schemes and protect those suburban villages and protect their heart. It is also a good time to ensure that the Deputy's communities know the community centre investment fund is open to them for the refurbishment part, which offers up to €100,000. That opens in the next week The community recognition fund has invested in community projects across Dublin, within the inner city but also within communities.”
“Those teams include the capital delivery teams that are funded by my Department, as well as vacant homes officers, broadband officers and night time economy officers. As I said earlier this morning, on a recent visit to County Laois, I witnessed first hand how Laois County Council's strategic approach is leading to the effective delivery of a wide range of projects across the county. The Minister of State and I continue to engage with officials on the Deputy's proposal for suburban towns. We also continue to engage with the Deputy on that. I very much believe and share her idea, which has also been expressed to me by other Deputies, that suburban villages and towns, which were the heart of communities, deserve support to retain their individual identities as cities continue to grow.”
“In relation to our Department, I can confirm that 26 town regeneration officers have been appointed in local authorities across the country, including in Fingal County Council. These officers are the central drivers of the town centre first approach are the key link between the local authorities, towns and villages and their communities. As we discussed earlier, they do a lot of work that is unseen on identifying properties within town centres and identifying the opportunities in town centres. As well as that, they support town teams, help towns to access available funding and they have a national network to support knowledge development and sharing best practice. Town regeneration officers also work closely across multidisciplinary regeneration teams in local authorities.”
“I thank the Deputy for her ongoing interest in this with the Minister of State and I. As she knows, the town centre first policy is a key Government initiative. Within this Department, we share the town centre first policy with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and I met with the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, so that we can continue to ensure town centre first is relevant and delivering a real impact across rural towns and villages into the future. Significant progress has been made since the launch of the policy. This includes the establishment of town teams nationally, which is an important initiative, and setting up a national town centre first office within the Local Government Management Agency.”
“We will engage with our colleagues in the Department on spending and looking at LIS. The Minister of State assures me there has not been a cut in the Department of Transport for regional roads but I will certainly engage with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, on that one.”
“As well as giving us a tour of Kerry, the Deputy has raised a very important issue. I share the Deputy's concern about the severity of rain and the damage it is doing, as well as the severity of hard winters that are damaging roads. The Minister of State and I will be looking within the Department at some sort of uniformity. Some councils are spending a lot more per km than others. The disparity is quite significant. I do not want to be in a situation where we dictate to councils how they spend their money. That would be wrong. Equally, we want to make sure the money we invest in LIS is spent on tar and roads and not on administration or positions. That is not the position in Kerry. We are very aware and conscious of the pressure on capital budgets, especially keeping in mind cost increases over the past three months.”
“I also say this to other Departments: the role of rural roads is not just for our Department. Other Departments have to step up. They are doing that but collectively, we could do a lot more. Our per km spend is an issue we are looking at as well. All local authorities need to have a certain band within which they spend on LIS. We do not need gold-plated roads; we need roads.”
“I agree. Looking at the figures, it is a particularly long list in Kerry. The Deputy is not the only Kerry Deputy who has made a special case for the county; there is also the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Foley, and other colleagues. We have put over €200 million into the LIS in less than ten years. It has made a difference around the country. I am aware of the length of the waiting lists and I am aware of the scheme. I make a very special case indeed for County Mayo, given its size, but I have other competing capital priorities. What the Minister of State and I have done last year is that where we can identify capital savings in the Department, we have targeted them towards LIS. It may not always be possible to do that but LIS will be a priority project as long as the Minister of State and I are in the Department.”
“We are engaging with local authorities. We have given the go-ahead for the initial 2026 programme to proceed. We are closely monitoring our spend in the capital area across the Department to ensure any savings that emerge in the Department can be redistributed to LIS. I am very much aware of the challenge in Kerry regarding outstanding roads. Some 37 roads were completed in 2025. Kerry County Council did not send any money back to my Department in terms of underspend, which I welcome. I am also conscious of the outstanding roads to be addressed in the county. As I said, I could invest the entire budget of my Department in LIS and still have outstanding roads. I am focused on addressing this. We are focused on introducing uniformity across the country in the spend on LIS. With that uniformity, we can get more roads done.”
“I thank the Deputy for his interest in this. As I said in reply to Deputy Stanley, since we introduced the LIS in 2017, over €200 million has been allocated to local authorities. The Minister of State and I confirmed the 2026 scheme will have an additional initial funding application of €17.5 million, representing an increase. Kerry County Council was allocated €1.13 million in initial funding for LIS in 2026, representing an increase in the initial allocation of over €1 million in 2025. Following our announcement of a supplementary budget of €14 million in August last year, Kerry received additional funding of over €1.2 million in 2025. The total Kerry allocation for 2025 represents a 44% increase on the 2024 allocation. We are committed to ensuring that the LIS scheme in Kerry and, indeed, nationally remains well-funded.”
“The Minister, Deputy Browne, and Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, are working on guidelines on spaces over shops because that will lead to the ultimate regeneration of towns, namely getting people back living in them and having life in towns after 6 p.m. That is happening on the ground if the Deputy chooses to see it.”
“He has seen tens of thousands of buildings, but he will also see, should he choose to see it, much progress and that things are happening on the ground. We are providing that level of investment through the RRDF and town and village renewal and we want to provide more. We will provide more investment and the Department is focused on that through Our Rural Future. That is why we have invested in our town regeneration officers across the country, who work in partnership with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. We have people on the ground identifying properties and their ownership and, ideally, working in the first place with local communities to upgrade and repurpose them.”
“Over €440 million has been invested in 160 projects through the RRDF since 2020. Many of those projects are now coming to fruition. Some €140 million has been invested in the town and village renewal scheme, which has dealt with 1,000 projects since 2020, owned and driven by local communities and local authorities. Under the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme, €110 million has been invested in dereliction, to a lesser extent. The Deputy has suggested nothing is happening.”
“We need to consider how communities and villages in Dublin can be tackled.. The Deputy suggested that there be CPOs, as if that could happen very easily. Many councils are trying to do that. The Deputy understands more than most the property rights in our Constitution, ownership rights and the difficulty of getting access to CPOs. Many councils are doing that through the town regeneration officer. The person is doing the legwork on that necessary work and research. That town regeneration officer is funded by my Department. We cannot just wave a magic wand. Town regeneration officers are doing very hard work on the ground. It is unseen, but is making a difference in towns and villages around the country if one chooses to see it.”
“I disagree with the Deputy. This is another social media statement without any basis. He mentioned Fermoy. We are currently investing €2.2 million in Fermoy to renew the town centre and the Blackwater experience and are working with the local community and development companies. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I are involved. The Deputy has to see for himself, or else does not want to see, the level of progress in many rural areas. In Athy, the Shackleton experience is led by the local community, in partnership with Kildare County Council. Old buildings have been renewed and repurposed. I could provide any number of examples under RRDF and the town and village renewal scheme. We need to examine how can we can expand the town and village renewal scheme. Deputy Currie is in the Chamber.”
“Funding is allocated to successful projects on a multi-annual basis. This is an approach that has worked well in recent years. It ensures high quality and impactful projects are funded in a targeted and strategic manner. We continue to ensure that the funding the Government is investing in rural towns and villages will deliver. I met the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, yesterday regarding the future iteration of our town centre first policy and other investments that we can make.”
“They are a key conduit between the Department, each local authority and towns and villages and the communities that live in them. They work as part of a multidisciplinary team in local authorities to support town regeneration and combat vacancy and dereliction. As was discussed with Deputy Stanley, I encourage Deputy Hearne to visit Laois where he will see a very good model in operation. A range of capital schemes funded by my Department are crucial to this. The town and village renewal scheme and the rural regeneration development fund have provided growing levels of funding to rural communities in recent years. Our local authorities are working closely with local communities to deliver projects. Funding under these schemes is generally by way of a competitive call for applications.”
“The town centre first policy, for which I and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage hold joint responsibility, is the major cross-government policy. It aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres. It does so by setting out a framework to facilitate and resource the regeneration of our towns and villages to ensure they are vibrant, viable, visible and happy places to live, work, invest in and visit. Town centre first complements other national policies, including our rural future, the national housing strategy and the national planning framework. Significant progress has been made. For example, town regeneration officers funded by my Department are based in 26 local authorities.”
“Creidim go n-aontaíonn an Teachta liom gurb é an rud is tábhachtaí ná go mbeidh ráiteas pleanála againn a oibríonn agus a thugann deis do dhaoine tithe a chruthú sa Ghaeltacht. Tá sé tábhachtach go mbeidh siad in ann íoc as na tithe sin agus go mbeidh siad affordable. Táimid dírithe air seo agus ar thithe sóisialta freisin.”
“Níl mé chun iad seo a leagan amach ar urlár na Dála. Táimid ag obair air. Tuigeann an tAire, an Teachta Browne, agus mé féin cé chomh tábhachtach is atá an ráiteas seo chun díriú ar an nGaeltacht agus go háirithe ar na daoine óga atá ag iarraidh tithe a chruthú inti. Táimid ag obair ar gach ceann de na dúshláin atá ann. Tá a lán oibre ar siúl ar a lán dúshlán sa Roinn. Tá na hoifigigh sa Roinn tithíochta atá ag obair liom ag obair ar roinnt de na dúshláin eile. Táimid ag obair ar chúrsaí taobh amuigh den ráiteas freisin. Mar a dúirt mé, tá san áireamh ansin soláthar séarachais agus uisce. Táimid ag obair le príomhfheidhmeannaigh na n-údarás áitiúil a bhfuil freagracht as pleanáil sna Gaeltachtaí orthu. Tá a lán píosaí ag baint leis an dúshlán nó jigsaw seo. Táimid ag obair air.”
“Táimid ag obair ar na dúshláin sin chun go mbeidh talamh seirbhísithe ó thaobh uisce agus séarachais. Is ceann de na dúshláin eile atá againn é sin. Táimid ag obair le hÚdarás na Gaeltachta chun a chuid talún a cheangal le córas Uisce Éireann chun go mbeidh deiseanna ansin.”
“Mar a dúirt mé, tá mé féin agus an tAire, an Teachta Browne, ag obair go crua air seo. Nílim in ann dáta a thabhairt don Teachta ag an bpointe seo. Caithfidh mo Roinn agus an Roinn tithíochta teacht ar aontú faoin mbealach le dul. Tá sé tábhachtach go mbeidh scéim agus ráiteas pleanála againn a oibríonn ar an talamh. Tá a lán dúshlán ann. Caithfimid obair ar na dúshláin seo. Táimid ag obair air sin ach níl aontú ann go fóill idir mé féin agus an Aire, an Teachta Browne. Nuair atá an plean réidh, beimid in ann é a fhoilsiú. Tá an obair ar siúl. Bíonn cruinnithe ag na hoifigigh. Bhí cruinniú ag na hoifigigh sa dá Roinn an tseachtain seo caite. Táimid dírithe isteach air ach ní bheidh sé éasca. Tá sé sin an-tábhachtach le rá. Tá dúshláin againn freisin le hUisce Éireann.”