The town centre first, TCF, policy, published in February 2022, is a joint initiative between my Department and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The policy sets out a framework to facilitate and resource the regeneration of Irish towns to ensure they are vibrant, viable and attractive places to live in, work in, invest in and visit. Important progress includes the establishment of a dedicated national TCF office and the appointment of town regeneration officers, TROs, in 26 local authorities, including Meath County Council. TROs lead on implementation of the policy at the local level. They work with the local town teams through a place-based approach to develop a TCF town plan, such as the new plan which the Dunshaughlin town team launched last month. TCF provides for an integrated policy approach for the development of our towns underpinned by funding streams across Government, including a range of measures from my Department. For example, under the rural regeneration and development fund, RRDF, over €3.6 million has been allocated to five projects located in County Meath since 2020. This included over €950,000 in category 2 funding for Dunshaughlin courthouse and public realm project, which I recently visited with Deputy Gillian Toole. Recent funding calls for proposals from my Department have shown that the TCF approach is having an impact. Higher quality and more considered applications have been received and have secured funding for project proposals emanating initially from town centre first plans. We are committed to the TCF policy and I will continue to work with the Ministers of State, Deputies Cummins and Buttimer, in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and we will have a joint Departments of rural and community development and housing and local government event later this year in Waterford around TCF and learning the lessons from TCF to date.

Sentiment score: 0.22

I fully agree with the Deputy and I commend the town team in Dunshaughlin on the town centre first plan. My Department is engaging closely with Meath County Council across several different projects, including a RRDF application. As a consequence of the TCF plan, I understand Meath County Council and the town team are closely engaged in working on an RRDF application. As the closing date is 27 July, I cannot tell the Deputy if it has come in or not. However, the officials in my Department have a call scheduled with Meath County Council on RRDF for next Friday, 17 July, at which they will get a steer from Meath County Council as to whether this is coming in. I know from a meeting I had at the beginning of June with the CEO of Meath County Council and with the then Cathaoirleach, Wayne Harding, that this was seen as a priority within the county. Until such time as we get an application in, I cannot make any further comment. The only thing I will say is the town centre first plan will considerably accentuate the application and strengthen it.

Sentiment score: 0.22

Definitely, Deputy. In the context of the discussions we are having with the Ministers of State, Deputies Cummins and Buttimer, we want to make that alignment true to the funding streams within our Department, as well as their Department, such as with the former URDF project. There is a new name for that now on which I have drawn a blank. However, I will say that on the previous occasion, the Dunshaughlin application was not grounded in the town centre first plan but it is now. Some of the feedback we discussed on the previous one was that there needed to be a plan and we now have a very solid plan. We have a town regeneration officer within Meath County Council who will be driving on, not just for Dunshaughlin but also for the rest of the county. I highly recommend all the Deputies in the House visit Kells to see what has happened there in the Kells Printing Works. It is an extraordinary project and I am going to get back there myself to see it properly over the summer. That is a similar idea. It is outside the Deputy's own constituency but what is happening in Kells is coming from the town centre first plan-----

Sentiment score: 0.17

My apologies. If there is regeneration happening there, it can happen in Dunshaughlin too.

Sentiment score: 0.00

I have a question regarding the draft national housing statement in the Deputy's name. I can give the Deputy chapter and verse, because it is the-----

Sentiment score: 0.00

-----same question Deputy Conway Walsh has asked, but I have Question with the reference number 53016/26 on this one. That is what is on the Order Paper as well.

Sentiment score: 0.19

Does the Deputy want to give the big intro again?

Sentiment score: 0.08

Am I answering the question on the housing statement?

Sentiment score: 0.00

In fairness, the question I have and the question the Deputy----

Sentiment score: 0.00

That is on multi-unit housing development.

Sentiment score: 0.00

I can give the Deputy the work we are doing. First, with regard to the draft national planning statement, and I will follow up and email the Deputy with a full answer, that is exactly about restoring population to these areas. Second, the investments I have just discussed with Deputy O'Rourke, and I highlighted an amazing project in the Deputy's own county in Kells, are investing in the RRDF projects to put investment back in rural communities. Through the town centre first plan, working with the Minister, Deputy Browne, and the Ministers of State, Deputies Cummins and Buttimer, we are putting in town regeneration officers to get people back living in towns. Through the vacant house and derelict house site, we are giving people the chance to get a start and to get the kind of refurbishment grants needed to get them back in. As regards services, it is difficult. We face the challenge of digitalisation. We need people to work and support local communities. I am working with the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, around the whole area of community cafes, which are taking hold around the country. Communities are setting up cafes and we are looking at the notion of community shops as well. We will be publishing the new draft of our rural future in mid-September and it will contain many new initiatives to deal with exactly the kind of challenges the Deputy has dealt with. However, I will send the Deputy a full response subsequently.

Sentiment score: 0.16

We had a discussion earlier with na Teachtaí Ó Snodaigh and McGuinness around the draft planning statement, which has been introduced by the Minister, Deputy Browne, and on which the Ministers of State, Deputies Buttimer and Cummins, and I have worked closely with him. It is a draft statement, in which we have tried to introduce a national standard regarding Gaeltacht planning and quotas in Gaeltacht areas. In some local authorities, there are varying degrees of that quota. It is 80% in some counties and it changes from area to area within counties. As I said, I will engage with any Deputy, since I do not claim ownership over this, about the Gaeltacht side of the draft planning statement to make it as robust as possible. We want to ensure that it protects the language. I am absolutely with the Deputy and every other Deputy about the notion of multi-unit houses in particular. They should be preserved or prioritised for people who have Irish, but we also have to respect that within Gaeltachtaí, there are people who do not have Irish. They have to be given a housing a right in their own community too.

Sentiment score: 0.21

We published the draft planning statement. We did not pull it out of the sky. I hate using the word "quota". The figures relating to the clause were taken from the census plus 10% in each language planning area. They were based on the number of active Irish speakers. They were not based on nine people not speaking English because of one person. We are open to discussing those thoroughly and constructively. Second, I want people to live in communities that are Irish-speaking where they can raise a family. I want education facilities at primary and secondary level and we are engaging in that. I want all of the elements of a successful community to be put in place. I also have to be realistic. We have to ensure that we have planning conditions that give Gaeltacht people with Gaeilge the chance to live in their home area and to move to another Gaeltacht. This is the first time there has ever been a draft national planning statement on the Gaeltacht. I am not precious. It is not perfect and I am happy to work with people to improve it over the next number of months.

Sentiment score: 0.11

Our Rural Future is the policy document that, since 2021, has been delivering vital investment and supports, strengthening local economies and improving quality of life across rural Ireland. Significant achievements include the delivery of the national broadband plan, the development of a national network of over 400 remote working hubs and enhanced public transport services through the connecting Ireland rural mobility programme, which is shared by the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, in both Departments. Through the rural regeneration and development fund, the town and village renewal scheme and the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme, we are investing in rural communities all across the country and indeed across County Mayo. Recent figures from the CSO show 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, including many in Mayo, the increase was 6.4%. However, I am conscious that this growth is inconsistent and that many areas are still losing population. That is why the new draft national planning statement will be important not just for Gaeltacht areas, but for rural areas to bring people back into areas with families and to support schools, post offices, and services. Under Our Rural Future, we have invested significantly in County Mayo, with €8.8 million under the current LEADER programme, over €39 million in RRDF funding and over €5.8 million under the community centre investment scheme. I was delighted to be in one of our more remote communities recently on Inishturk, where we launched the fibre roll-out of the national broadband plan. Through the town and village renewal scheme, I allocated €1.5 million to six projects. However, I am aware, as the Deputy is, of those areas. I am committed to working on those areas where the population is leaving. I want to make sure that we get families back in and, through issues like the vacant property grant, we are trying to do that.

Sentiment score: 0.34

All I can say is that if Brenda was in charge of the Mayo team, we would have won many all-Irelands. I absolutely mean that. I wish the team every success. It will be a great week and it would be an amazing achievement. The Deputy is absolutely right. The Minister of State and I have met the GAA demographics committee and we have discussed this with Deputy McGuinness too. I will incorporate much of its work into the new Our Rural Future programme. The GAA has led in what it has done with the demographics committee. I congratulate Benny Hurl, the chairman of the committee, and our former colleague, Shane Cassells, who has joined that committee, for doing a lot of work on this. I will incorporate some of the ideas. Many of the ideas are captured in the national planning statement such as getting people back, investing in sporting facilities and remote working to give people a chance to return to their home areas. People are going to travel but I want them to come back. I want to give them communities to come back to. Communities have a standard that they are used to travelling to, and if we do not provide that standard of facilities and infrastructure, we will not get them back. I absolutely want to get them back. I want us to win multiple all-Irelands.

Sentiment score: 0.24

I agree about transport. We are lucky with Sarah and the team in Local Link. Co-ordination is better, which is something that Deputy McGuinness and the Minister of State discussed earlier around bus stops. We have the same problems with bus stops, which has hopefully just been resolved with the National Transport Authority. On the trolley, it is beyond me, in 2026, why we cannot have trolleys on trains. Irish Rail needs to cop on. I got that email this evening. It was a very distressing situation for that passenger.

Sentiment score: 0.09

Irish Rail is being ridiculous about trolleys at this stage. On the N59 and the draft planning guidelines generally, it is the Minister's intention that they will take effect next year. I have asked my party's councillors and I will ask Councillor Murray as well because our councillors are the best planners and experts on planning to look at the guidelines. That would be a useful exercise for us all to do, for our councillors to examine these guidelines. We will certainly feed that through to our review process. It is important we get them in as quickly as possible.

Sentiment score: 0.23

Táim féin agus an tAire Stáit, an Teachta Buttimer tar éis sárobair a chur isteach chun SÍOL a chur ar an mbóthar. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta freisin mar iarArd-Mhéara as a thaithí leis seo. I thank the Deputy for sharing his experience with the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, in relation to urban disadvantage. SÍOL was launched on 8 July. It means "seed" in English. It actually stands for scéim infheistíochta ag obair le chéile, which translates to "working together investment scheme". It aims to target small areas of disadvantage in our towns and cities, providing funding for infrastructure to improve the areas and the lives of the communities. The areas chosen are those with the highest population of extreme disadvantage. The new programme is focused initially on 15 areas that have been designated as SÍOL. The areas were selected using an evidence base which included the Pobal HP deprivation index, information from the CSO report, Urban and Rural Life in Ireland, and research by the ESRI. We also looked at the areas in Ireland already covered by the CLÁR programme to ensure geographical complementarity. Capital funding of €31.5 million has been secured by the Minister, Deputy Buttimer, and me up to 2030. We announced an allocation of €5 million for 2026 and I plan to increase that amount over time, with annual funding expected to reach €7 million by 2030. The Department will keep SÍOL under review, with a view to potentially adding additional areas on an annual basis. Any area added will be based on the Pobal HP deprivation index and CSO and ESRI evidence.

Sentiment score: 0.05

Aontaím go mór leis an Teachta. Tá sé iontach an spreagadh chun na Gaeilge a fheiceáil. I spent three summers in Baile na hAbhann in Coláiste Uí Chadhain, so I know the Indreabhán area very well. Tá an Teachta fíor. Freisin tá sé bunaithe ar mhúinteoirí. It is based on teaching, our naíonraí and our Gaelscoileanna. That is why we need more Gaelcholáistí. I have a very strong view that we have to continue this journey through the education system. We are forever in this House kicking social media, but TikTok has a lot of stuff on the Gaeltacht. There are some fantastic podcasts, such as "How To Gael". Social media has actually turned out to be a good friend of an Ghaeilge agus an Ghaeltacht. Tá sé sin tábhachtach. Sin an fáth a bhfuil cúrsaí cosúil le Gaeilge365 chomh tábhachtach. Gaeilge365, which has extended from Dublin City Council to all four Dublin local authorities, is innovative. It is using things differently. It is using Gaeilge in a day-to-day fun way. Every local authority can learn from it.

Sentiment score: 0.12

The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I were conscious that the scheme was only capital. We wanted to keep it very simple initially and get the projects rolled out. In terms of the current programme, in the 15 areas, there is a closing date of mid-August. It comes from the local authorities. We will make sure we get money quickly to local authorities. A regular complaint from local authorities in relation to our schemes is that it costs them money to implement them. A total of 5% of the budget will go toward each managing local authority to cater for the management of the project locally. The projects will be small. They could be local health and sports projects and initiatives. I have compared it in some places to CLÁR for these 15 urban areas. They are small, important local capital projects that otherwise would not happen. The projects will be 100% funded, with no local contribution required. It is our intention that, with increased resources, we will keep the scheme open for potential expansion. I know the area the Deputy mentioned. We have good engagement with the Northside Partnership, which does fantastic work and the Minister of State and I respect that work. We look forward to working with the Deputy in relation to that.

Sentiment score: 0.07

I thank the Deputy for his ongoing work on this. It is not back-of-the-envelope stuff. His inputs and those of Deputy Ó Snodaigh are always considered. As he knows, the primary responsibility lies with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The draft statement is, in my view, one that strengthens the planning system’s support for the Irish language and Gaeltacht areas, making it clearer and more consistent by setting out the language criteria which may be submitted with applications for new single rural dwellings and requiring a proportion of multi-unit developments to be lived in by Irish speakers. Importantly, the policy also recognises that Gaeltacht communities share a specific culture, language and identity. It introduces the idea of inter-Gaeltacht recognition, meaning Irish speakers who live and work in one Gaeltacht can use that experience and time to show they may meet local need requirements in another Gaeltacht. One of the key benefits will be the introduction of a new policy approach applied consistently across the country, providing more certainty for people wishing to build a new house in a rural area and the avoidance of prescriptive local policies that see different standards applied between neighbouring counties and, indeed, sometimes within a county. Currently, there is no consistent method for local planning authorities when developers are reserving a percentage of the housing development for Irish speakers. This method of using the percentage of speakers outside the education system plus 10%, as proposed, will be based on the current linguistic composition of the area rather than setting a uniform national figure across all Gaeltacht areas. This is about giving certainty both to people who wish to remain living in or return to their rural communities as well as planners while supporting a vibrant sustainable rural Ireland. There will be discussions with interested parties in the coming weeks. In that context, a meeting is scheduled between my officials and Conradh na Gaelige later in the month. I look forward to engaging with the Deputy and Deputy Ó Snodaigh in this space and we will engage very directly with the Minister, Deputy Browne, and the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, on this over the coming months.

Sentiment score: 0.25

I reject the Deputy's analysis of the draft plan on the Gaeltacht. We worked very closely with the Department of housing on it to try to get a balance. The important thing is to get a balance in Gaeltacht areas between those with Gaeilge, those who have Irish and use it as a daily language, and new people moving into it, but also those from a Gaeltacht area who do not have Irish, because they equally have a right to stay in their place. Second, I was anxious that we got a balance in terms of not allowing further holiday home development. I want permanent residences for families to grow, live and work through Irish and then drive the demand for Irish schools, Irish education, Irish cultural facilities and so on. I am happy to work with Deputy McGuinness and Deputy Ó Snodaigh in particular and colleagues across the Gaeltacht side of it to address some of the Deputy’s feedback, although we will not incorporate it all. There is an environmental streaming process under way. I will share the information involved with that with the Deputy after this session.

Sentiment score: 0.00

Scrúdaíomar na figiúirí. Tá na coinníollacha nua bunaithe ar census 2022, cé go bhfuil deacrachtaí ansin. Mar a dúradh an oíche a d'fhoilsíomar an dréachtráiteas, táim oscailte go feedback. Nuair atá fearg ann, oibrím leis an bhfearg nuair a thagann rudaí as an bhfearg sin. Táim sásta obair leis an Teachta. Mar a dúirt mé, tá oifigigh as mo Roinn, a chuir an-obair isteach leis na hoifigigh sa Roinn tithíochta, chun cruinniú a bheith acu le Conradh na Gaeilge roimh dheireadh na míosa seo. Bhí siad chun é a dhéanamh an tseachtain seo caite, ach ní raibh an conradh in ann é a dhéanamh. Táim sásta, mar a dúirt mé, suí síos le haon Teachta a bhfuil suim acu ní hamháin ráiteas a fhoilsiú ach obair air seo. Táim sásta é sin a dhéanamh agus obair leis an Aire, an Teachta Browne. Beimid in ann obair leis an gcoiste agus leis an Teachta Moynihan, agus, tar éis na hoibre sin, leis an Aire, an Teachta Browne. Tá suim agam obair orthu. Sin an tsuim is mó atá agam.

Sentiment score: -0.19

I thank the Deputy for his question about CLÁR. As he knows, CLÁR provides funding under a number of different measures for small-scale infrastructural projects in designated rural areas. The programme is investing in community facilities and amenities, including community centres, MUGAs, playgrounds, walking tracks and sensory gardens. The scheme also funds vehicles for community groups providing vital services such as community first responders, meals on wheels groups, and transport for people with reduced mobility. There is also a measure providing targeted supports to our island communities. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I launched the 2026 CLÁR programme in March and we expect to announce all successful projects before the end of the year. The 2025 programme for Government made a commitment to carry out a comprehensive review of all eligible CLÁR areas. Following this review, an additional 110 electoral divisions, EDs, have been designated as eligible under CLÁR. This means that there are now over 1,700 CLÁR EDs across the country. For the first time, the total population living in CLÁR-designated areas is over 1 million. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I are acutely aware of the importance of this programme to some of our most rural areas. I was delighted to be in a position to bring more areas into the programme. To prepare the way for this expansion, I secured a €1 million increase in the budget for CLÁR in 2026 to bring the level available to €12 million. Funding for CLÁR has increased from €5 million in 2020 to its current allocation of €12 million. We are reviewing the budget for CLÁR as part of the budget 2027 process. We are engaging with ministerial colleagues across the Department of public expenditure on this. I absolutely share the Deputy's interest in CLÁR. We have prioritised it in terms of a quadrupling of the funding since 2020, and I want to continue to increase that level of funding.

Sentiment score: 0.30

Absolutely. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I are working hard to ensure that CLÁR gets increased funding. As Deputy McGuinness knows, under 2025, Waterford received €572,000 for nine projects under measures 1 and 2. On the Deputy's comments about loneliness, that is why we have the mobility scheme and the transport scheme. It gives local organisations in rural areas that would not have the resources to invest in buses the chance to do that. I was with a group the other day involved with a bus that brings to hospital appointments, to mass and to social events people who otherwise, through illness etc., would be isolated in their homes. Ardmore, Glenwilliam, Lismore rural and Tallow have all been added to the CLÁR programme within the Deputy's county, so I look forward to seeing the applications from Waterford later this year for projects in those areas. Over the course of the summer recess, we hope to be in a position to announce this year's mobility grants, but it is a really important programme. CLÁR used to be a transformative programme. It is transformative in a different way now, but in terms of its capacity for our rural economy I have a vision of getting back to that as well in terms of power etc.

Sentiment score: 0.10

Absolutely. I am very much open to that. Along with the Ministers of State, Deputies Butler and Cummins, I had the pleasure of visiting the area mentioned by the Deputy back in June. I know that the Comeragh area has a super weekend in the Comeraghs Wild Festival. We were able, through ORIS, to make investments in the forests there. The project in Lismore is one of the best LEADER projects I have seen. I refer to what has happened at the back of the bank there, in terms of the glamping pods, and the plan for the bank. There are other alternatives apart from CLÁR. The community groups in the area the Deputy has mentioned are some of the best in the country. I put on record my appreciation to all the community groups across Waterford - we had a super day of engagements - and to Waterford County and City Council, which is kind of the scaffolding around this, and to Waterford LEADER. There are a lot of really good groups there, including a lot of fantastic community groups. The Deputy is lucky to be in a county where volunteers are willing to stand up and take the leadership and the initiative that we saw right across the county that day. A lot of counties could look to Waterford and learn from that work but also the fact that it is all community-led and community-driven.

Sentiment score: 0.36

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta. Shínigh an tUachtarán Connolly an tAcht um Údarás na Gaeltachta (Leasú), 2026, ina dhlí ar an 1 Iúil 2026. Is é príomhchuspóir an Achta an próiseas ainmniúcháin agus roghnúcháin reatha a rialaíonn ceapachán bhord Údarás na Gaeltachta faoi Acht na Gaeltachta, 2012 a athrú agus próiseas toghcháin agus roghnúcháin nua a chur ina áit. Leis an leasú seo, comhlíonadh gealltanas a tugadh i gclár an Rialtais toghcháin do bhord Údarás na Gaeltachta a athbhunú. Nuair a chuirtear na hailt ábhartha den reachtaíocht leasaithe i bhfeidhm, beidh deichniúr comhalta tofa agus seisear comhalta arna n-ainmniú ag an Aire ar bhord an údaráis. Beidh ionadaíocht ag gach ceantar Gaeltachta ar an mbord, agus ní bheidh uainíocht comhaltaí do cheantair bheaga Ghaeltachta i bhfeidhm a thuilleadh. Chun nasc níos láidre a chinntiú idir an pobal agus obair an bhoird, foráiltear leis an Acht freisin go mbunóidh an t-údarás trí choiste réigiúnacha reachtúla atá cosúil leo siúd a bhí i bhfeidhm roimh 2012, ach a mbeidh sainchúram beagán difriúil orthu. Beidh comhaltaí ainmnithe ag údaráis áitiúla ar na coistí réigiúnacha seo agus ní mór do gach ball den údarás agus dá choistí réigiúnacha a bheith in ann leibhéal inniúlachta sa Ghaeilge a léiriú atá riachtanach chun a gcuid feidhmeanna a chomhlíonadh. Chun críche na dtoghchán do bhord Údarás na Gaeltachta, bhí gá roinnt leasuithe teicniúla a dhéanamh ar Acht Toghcháin, 1992; an Acht Toghcháin, 1997; an Acht um Thruailliú ó Bhruscar, 1997; agus an Acht um Chosaint Sonraí, 2018. Foráiltear leis na leasuithe seo go gcuirfí tagairtí do thoghcháin Údarás na Gaeltachta san áireamh sna hachtanna seo. Coimeádfar ceist na dtoghchán faoi bhreith leanúnach agus déanfar cinneadh maidir leis an bhfráma ama dóibh in am trátha.

Sentiment score: 0.00

Níl mórán ama tugtha do na céad céimeanna eile. Bhí muid dírithe ar an mBille a chur tríd an Oireachtas. Táimid chun é sin a scrúdú anois. Le haghaidh gach toghchán, tá cúram na dtoghchán faoi chúraim na Roinne Tithíochta, Rialtais Áitiúil agus Oidhreachta. Beidh na leasuithe le plé le hoifigigh na Roine sin leis na rudaí eile agus beidh na sonraí eile le haghaidh na dtoghchán á bplé ag leibhéal an Rialtais. Beidh mé ag cur an próiseas do na coistí réigiúnacha ar siúl chomh luath agus is féidir mar tá siad tábhachtach le haghaidh an údaráis taobh amuigh de na toghcháin. Tá sé tábhachtach go mbeidh siad ag obair agus go mbeidh na daoine bunaithe ar na coistí sin. Beidh mé sásta teacht ar ais chuig an Teachta tar éis bhriseadh an tsamhraidh chun sonraí eile a phlé faoin gcéad próiseas eile agus na céimeanna eile sa Bhille seo. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Uachtarán as an reachtaíocht a shíniú agus gabhaim buíochas léi freisin as an obair a chur sí isteach sa Bhille nuair a bhí sí sa Teach seo.

Sentiment score: -0.19