Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as an gceist. Tá leithdháileadh iomlán de €611 milliún faighte ag an Roinn ar fad i gcáinaisnéis 2026. Leis seo, cuirfear €192 milliún ar fáil don chlár fhorbartha tuaithe; €260 milliún don chlár forbartha pobail; agus €159 milliún do réimse clár na Gaeltachta, na Gaeilge agus na n-oileán. Fuair mé méadú an-suntasach sa mhaoiniú do chlár na Gaeltachta, na Gaeilge agus na n-oileán. Tá méadú 29% ar an leithdháileadh, ó €123 milliún go €159 milliún in 2026. Is é seo an méadú is mó sa réimse seo le blianta fada anuas. Tá pleananna fíoruaillmhianacha againn chun tacú le pobail Ghaeltachta agus leis an nGaeilge araon. Leis an maoiniú, cinnteofar gur féidir linn dul chun cinn suntasach a dhéanamh chun na pleananna sin a chur i bhfeidhm in 2026. Is léir do chách an dearfacht atá mórthimpeall na teanga anois agus bainfidh muid lántairbhe as seo trí infheistíocht i réimse maoinithe reatha agus caipitil araon. Maidir le maoiniú caipitil don earnáil, beidh sé ag méadú ó €30 milliún in 2025 go beagnach €55 milliún in 2026. Leis an maoiniú seo, beidh muid in ann oibriú ar thrí phríomhthionscadal infheistíochta a sheachadadh, is iad sin, Céibh Inis Oírr, an tIonad Gaeilge agus Cultúir ar Shráid Fhearchair i mBaile Átha Cliath, agus athfhorbairt suímh Choláiste Lurgan in Indreabhán mar mhol oideachais agus óige do Ghaeltacht Conamara. Rinneadh gealltanais i leith na dtionscadal seo sa phlean forbartha náisiúnta agus is cúis áthais dom an maoiniú a fháil chun iad a thabhairt chun críche anois. Gan airgead, ní bheadh muid in ann iad a dhéanamh. Tá an t-airgead sin curtha ar thaobh le haghaidh 2026 chun iad a leanúint. Tá mé den tuairim mhaith go mbeidh an liúntas caipitil atá faighte ag mo Roinn leordhóthanach le freastal ar riachtanais chlár na Gaeltachta agus na Gaeilge.

Sentiment score: -0.10

Tá sé deacair ag an bpointe seo sonraí don breakdown sin a thabhairt don Teachta. Beimid in ann sonraí faoi Ché Inis Oírr a thabhairt dó ach táimid fós ag obair leis an OPW ar Shráid Fhearchair. Tá an OPW in éineacht linn. Táimid ag lorg tender le haghaidh cúrsaí in Indreabhán. Beidh na sonraí agam tar éis an phróisis sin. Tá dúshlán mór ann d’aon tógálaí faoi láthair mar gheall ar chostais. Bhí sé sin soiléir san obair a rinneamar ar Ché Inis Oírr. Tugadh airgead caipitil breise don údarás agus le haghaidh gnáthchúrsaí. Tá mé ag cur béim ar chúrsaí digiteacha le haghaidh an údaráis freisin le go mbeidh sé in ann deiseanna digiteacha a bhaint amach do chomhlachtaí sa Ghaeltacht agus do mhuintir na Gaeltachta agus go mbeidh siad réidh le haghaidh na dúshláin atá ann sa bhealach atá cúrsaí digiteacha ag dul.

Sentiment score: -0.19

Tá méadú difriúil le haghaidh Údarás na Gaeltachta. Tá €2.5 milliún i gceist, lena n-áirítear méadú €1 milliún ar leithdháileadh caipitil le haghaidh an údaráis leis féin. Tá obair eile le déanamh le airgead caipitil sa Ghaeltacht freisin. Tá tograí nach bhfuil chomh mór leis na tograí atá sa phlean forbartha náisiúnta. Tá an ghnáthobair a dhéanaimid gach bliain maidir le cúrsaí Gaeltachta agus na cumainn spóirt ag teacht as sin. Tá mé sásta a rá go bhfanfaidh mé i dteagmháil leis an Teachta agus leis an gcomhchoiste mar gheall ar sonraí an trí togra sin. Tá siad thar a bheith tábhachtach agus beimid ag cóiméad súil ghéar orthu chun go mbeidh siad ag fanacht faoi bhun an bhuiséid atá acu. I ngach cás, tá sé deacair ag an bpointe seo a bheith cinnte cén saghas caiteachas a bheidh i gceist in 2026 ach beidh na sonraí sin agam i mí Eanáir nó mí Feabhra 2026 agus fillfidh mé ar an Teachta ansin.

Sentiment score: -0.21

I agree with the Deputy about the importance of housing. My Department works closely with colleagues in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage across a range of areas. Officials in both Departments are in regular contact about a number of areas that cut into housing, including town centre first, local economic and community planning, planning for and the provision of housing for Irish speakers in Gaeltacht areas, input to the successor to the Our Rural Future policy, the local democracy task force, Dormant Account Fund measures and emergency response work, particularly around storms. I have had three formal meetings with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy James Browne, since my appointment, the most recent of which was yesterday. We have been discussing a number of key issues. A particular focus and priority for me is the planning and provision of housing for Irish speakers in Gaeltacht areas and to ensure that there will be provision for this in the forthcoming housing plan. We have been discussing how we engage on that. We have discussed the development of our new rural development policy, which there will be questions about later. We will be moving into the final stage of consultation on this in the coming weeks and I will engage with the House on that. We have also had engagement on emergency storm responses, the Údaras na Gaeltachta (Amendment) Bill 2024 and the role of that body. Official in both Departments continue to engage on the Gaeltacht planning guidelines. The Minister and I have asked for this work to be accelerated. I want the guidelines to be published as soon as possible. We are also ensuring that the Department of housing is central in both the plan and the actions of the new Our Rural Future policy. We continue to work with the Department in its work on storm response. We have a number of proposals to bring forward in that space. I will have further meetings with the Minister and he has also joined me, since the Deputy and I last discussed this, in meetings with BÁNÚ agus Tintéan last June. We had a very good engagement. Bhí crinniú an-láidir againn, idir mé féin, an tAire, an Teachta Browne agus BÁNÚ agus Tintéan faoi chursaí pleanála sa Gaeltacht.

Sentiment score: 0.16

I would encourage the Deputy to put his cynicism to one side and look at budget 2026. It contains a record allocation of over €9 billion for housing capital investment. This has been a major issue that has come back to us in the consultation on Our Rural Future. The vacant property refurbishment grant provided by the Department of housing is really important in rural areas. A sum of €165 million has been allocated for the vacant property refurbishment grant for 2026. Generally, in terms of our work on Our Rural Future, there was a 7% increase in the population of highly rural, remote areas between 2011 and 2022. There are serious disparities within that and I am trying to get in under that bonnet to ensure we assist those areas. Planning permissions have been granted for almost 6,000 one-off homes, on average, each year since 2020 and 90% of those are in rural settings. We will continue to work with the Minister, Deputy Browne, particularly on the necessary infrastructure for house building, such as water and sewerage. Is iad cursaí uisce agus cúrsaí séarachais go háirithe sna ceantair Gaeltachta na dúshláin gur gá duinn a réiteach le haghaidh infreastruchtúir. We will work closely with the Minister on that, the planning guidelines and the other issues I have discussed.

Sentiment score: 0.18

Táim ag iarraidh obair leis an Teachta. Tá an t-airgead ann. Tá na figiúirí ann ón CSO a léiríonn go bhfuil ardú mór sna ceadúnais tithíochta, tithe aonair go háirithe. Táimid ag obair leis na húdaráis áitiúla. Bhí cruinniú agam freisin le príomhfheidhmeannaigh na n-údarás áitiúil a bhfuil Gaeltacht ann chun plé leis an dream sin faoi na rudaí is tábhachtaí. Leag siad béim ar an tábhacht a bhaineann le cúrsaí infreastruchtúir. Sin an fáth gur chuireamar béim sa phlean forbartha náisiúnta go mbeidh Uisce Éireann in ann obair ní hamháin ar chathracha agus ar bhailte móra ach ar cheantair tuaithe agus Gaeltachta freisin. Beidh mé ag cur brú. Tá a fhios agam ón phlé a bhí agam leis an Aire go dtuigeann sé cé chomh tábhachtach is atá an t-infreastruchtúr sin. Tá samplaí agus scéalta agam faoi dhaoine atá ag iarraidh tithe a thógáil i sráidbhaile Gaeltachta nach bhfuil séarachas ann. Táimid ag díriú ar fhadhbanna cosúil leis sin agus na treoirlínte pleanála.

Sentiment score: -0.19

The Minister of State and I were delighted to have secured funding of €5 million in budget 2026 for the introduction of a new programme for urban areas in line with the programme for Government commitment. RAPID stands for revitalising areas by planning, investment and development. Established in 2001, it was an area-based approach to disadvantage representing a focused initiative to target the 25 most concentrated areas of disadvantage in the country. The original RAPID programme closed to new applications in 2011, although it should be noted that my Department has continued to honour legacy commitments. These included my Department’s contractual commitments under previous RAPID projects, predominantly under the sports capital scheme. A number of guiding principles underpinned the old RAPID programme and its activity. These are community participation and local ownership, which were crucial, promotion of strategic planning, co-ordination of provision of State services, building on existing structures, complementing existing initiatives, flexibility, and targeting of additional services, investment and facilities. RAPID leverage schemes were previously introduced to support small-scale projects identified locally. These schemes were co-funded by other Departments and agencies and funded projects that focused on estate enhancement, graffiti removal, traffic calming, community closed-circuit television, health and sports facilities and the provision of recreational facilities. The schemes were also extended to co-fund the provision of facilities in schools located in RAPID areas. The Minister of State and I are working with departmental officials on the potential formulation of a new scheme similar to the RAPID scheme. Considerations will include the changed demographic and socioeconomic landscape since the previous programme, potential geographical areas to be considered for targeted support and the levels of funding already available through other schemes in my Department. We have both been engaging with communities around the country in towns and cities in recent months to get an understanding of what communities want from such a programme.

Sentiment score: 0.27

I agree regarding the impact it has had. There were 25 designated disadvantaged urban areas, which included areas in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Drogheda and Dundalk. More provincial towns were added. At the end of the programme, the number of designated RAPID areas was 51. We may not be able to reach this figure but we want to get started in 2026. The Minister of State and I have been struck by the passion of communities in these areas. While there are a range of supports for communities in rural areas, we need to focus now on communities in urban areas. As the Deputy referred to Athy, I want to thank everybody involved. I was in Athy in Friday and we launched the new rural regeneration and development fund, RRDF. As part of that, we saw the fantastic Shackleton Experience, which is funded through our Department's RRDF programme and Kildare County Council. With the recess approaching, I would encourage any Member to visit it. It is an example of how an historic 300-year-old building can be refurbished, repurposed and used as a driver of economic development. This, along with the food campus in Athy, will drive the transformation of that town.

Sentiment score: 0.18

I agree. The Minister of State and I are very focused on making sure this is effective and community led. The Minister of State works on a daily basis with the teams in SICAP and community development organisations and we want to make sure they have an input into this. We want to keep what was good about the previous RAPID programme and keep the direction, focus and delivery. It may have been diluted over the years, spread too thinly and lost effectiveness. We want to get back to the effective results-driven programme with boots on the ground who live in, participate in and have businesses in an area. People who have a stake in the area should lead this programme. The Minister of State and I are very focused on delivering that kind of programme.

Sentiment score: 0.34