Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 10 Oct 2024

I ask about capital funding for new library buildings. I understand approximately €100 million was to be allocated over five years. Unfortunately my colleague, Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, cannot be here this morning. I am taking the question on his behalf. He has a particular interest in a proposed library in the Mahon area in Cork. Capital funding was announced last year. When will it be provided? In that case it is a larger complex than just a library. It is an area with a large number of people, particularly young families, and there is no library in that district.

Our public libraries are at the heart of our communities. They are multipurpose social, cultural and educational spaces for the whole community to enjoy. There are 330 public libraries nationwide, providing an excellent service throughout the country. In July last year, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, launched the public library strategy, The Library is the Place, which sets out a vision for our public libraries and includes 66 strategic actions to develop and expand our public library services.

The strategy included a commitment to announce a new libraries capital programme and in April of this year, the libraries capital programme 2023-27 was announced. This will invest €22.6 million in 11 state-of-the-art infrastructure projects and €2.6 million in 12 next-generation mobile library vehicles. It will also provide investment for vital IT facilities in our public libraries.

The new programme builds upon an investment of €29 million provided by my Department to local authorities under the previous libraries capital programme 2016-22. The Department also provided funding of €3.1 million in July 2022 to support the provision of the My Open Library service in 17 new branches and an upgrade of the service in 29 existing branches.

My Department is also investing significantly in the development of libraries through the rural regeneration and development fund. In May of this year, the successful projects from the fifth call to the RRDF were announced, including funding of over €28 million for three projects that included a library. To date, funding of over €100 million has been provided under the RRDF to projects that incorporate a library. The libraries capital programme is now fully committed and I look forward to working with local authorities to ensure the full utilisation of the funding allocated.

I have some more information on what is happening in Mahon which I can provide in my follow-up reply.

We understand that work is being done as we see it in many places around the country. I understand that 33 smaller projects are happening and the fear is that when they are all funded, there will not be enough left for the larger capital projects that are required. The one in Mahon is an example of that. It is an entire district without any library facility and we need to get one built there. Of course, it will require a large capital investment. It is a service that every community across the State needs. It is not just for younger people but also for older people. A library provides an opportunity in communities everywhere. It is not just somewhere to go and browse and get a book. It also has an education facility. A whole range of community actions happen within a library and it is the hub of many communities. We need to invest in that.

It is a problem in large areas of the State with growing populations and younger children. We also have new communities moving into areas. English language classes, etc., are happening in our libraries and we need to have these facilities put in place with urgency. I would like to get a commitment that there will be funding for new-build large capital projects.

I agree with the Deputy's outlining of the broader value of libraries, particularly in areas that have been neglected over time. Parts of Mahon in Cork certainly fit that bill. I am familiar with it. I am advised that Cork City Council did not submit an application through the libraries capital programme 2023-27 for funding for the Blackrock-Mahon project as discussions regarding a potential site had not been concluded before the submission date of June 2023. As discussions on a site for the proposed library have now been concluded and a site has been secured, Cork City Council submitted a stage 1 application to my Department on 4 October. The purpose of the application is to enable an assessment of compliance of the proposal with the library benchmarks and standards, which seek to secure a high standard of infrastructure and service development across the service. It is important to say that this does not represent an actual application for funding to my Department as yet.

From the notes I have, I am aware that a site has been identified and the preliminary application has been placed with the Department. I understand that more work remains to be done. We need to see movement with haste on Mahon. At locations around the country library buildings are in poor repair and also need investment. A commitment to that would be a commitment to the communities in rural areas throughout the country which have been left behind. Many urban areas also have poor facilities and need better investment. There are issues with staffing. We need to ensure we have adequate staffing in our library service to provide the kinds of services the people need in our modern social and economic environment.

My Department previously advised Cork City Council to consider submitting an application for funding for the Blackrock-Mahon library to the urban regeneration and development fund, which is administered by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Our Department will certainly progress the stage 1 application as swiftly as we can. I encourage Cork City Council to engage in that quickly. At the moment, there is not an allocation for that project, but things can change. It is a four- or five-year window and, while it has been allocated now, things can change and Cork City Council would be wise to have everything lined up in case things change and there is potential for an allocation during that four-year period.

It is important to say, and the Deputy is aware of this as well, that local authorities have primary responsibility with regard to the roll-out of the library service but we are happy to support them whatever way we can in the Department.

I wish to raise with the Minister of State the issue of rural proofing. It is something I understand the Minister said last year would be published. The question refers to the "published guidelines" but I understand that they are not yet published and are still in draft form. I have had a read through them. We have many areas of the country where there is a decline in population and rural parishes under pressure. We need investment and to ensure that with regard to anything that is being done by the State, and any new policies that are brought in, whether it is around infrastructure, health services or whatever, that those services look to these rural areas and ensure they get the kind of investment they require to be able to develop and flourish.

Rural proofing is an approach to help ensure that the development of major policy initiatives are viewed through a rural lens to take full consideration of rural perspectives and issues. Rural proofing is not a policy or a model. Rather, it is a process to be undertaken that leads to better policies.

Last year, my Department published a body of research on rural proofing which is available online. Following this, and in order to help develop guidance material for use by policymakers and practitioners, a number of rural proofing pilots were undertaken across Government, on the national planning framework review, the development of the new sustainable tourism policy, the new national hubs strategy, and the new social enterprise strategy which was published in July.

To help complete our final report and in order to test our proposals, officials engaged with an OECD team of international experts in rural development in September. This was as part of the Department’s hosting of the OECD’s mission visit to review Irish rural policy, a study which was commissioned by the Department. I am happy to say that this has helped officials to refine proposals and I am advised that the intention is to shortly bring forward this report, and more importantly, guidance in relation to rural proofing and items such as the challenge of defining rural areas as an important first step in ensuring rural needs are taken account of; the availability of key statistics in relation to rural areas; the importance of meaningful and early consultation with rural communities as part of policy development; and how to ensure that rural issues are considered as a central part of policy development.

I am confident that this approach will serve as a practical and user-friendly tool for Government Departments to ensure that rural issues are fully taken account of in the development of major policy initiatives. To cut a long story short, the document will be published and available quite soon.

I welcome that. We need to see progress on all of this. There are many areas where we can see problems with rural areas being left behind and not getting the kind of investment they require. The glaring example, for those of us who live in the west of Ireland, is certainly the western rail corridor. For years, we have been told it is going to be developed and yet, they continually look at population areas quite close to the rail line and not a broader area.

I live quite near Dromad in County Leitrim. There is a railway station there, and people travel 30 km or 40 km to go to that railway station. Yet, when they look at the catchment area for a rail line, they only look at 5 km or 10 km from it. It is ridiculous. It should be recognised that it covers a much wider area and is one of the key pieces of infrastructure that would develop the west of Ireland, if it was put in place.

Of course, one of the biggest problems we have with rural proofing is the Planning and Development Bill, which went through here last night and was guillotined. The Government pushed that through and there is nothing in it to do anything for rural areas. To be of some small assistance to the Minister of State when it comes down to the micro, the CSO figures, when they look at each area, look at parishes. Any parish where there is less than 30 people per square kilometre is in terminal decline. There are hundreds of those parishes across the length and breadth of Ireland that require investment. They need to get some leg-up or their schools are going to close and their communities are going to vanish.

The Government's objective is to have balanced regional development across the country, and the national planning framework sets out the Government's objective for this with 50% of population growth targeted outside our major cities. The NPR is currently under review by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Our Rural Future, the Government's rural development plan, supports the vision for balanced regional development, including in the northern and western region.

On the planning Bill, one thing that will help is large infrastructure projects, including rail lines. My party would certainly like to see the rail line expanded to the north and west of the country as well. I would also flag the progress with broadband that has opened up things for people to move back to rural Ireland. I recall some data from Pobal post Covid which showed there was a movement from urban areas to the west of the country, at least up to 2022. What has happened in the last two years I cannot point to but I will point to the expansion of Local Link services across the country as well. There is a long way to go on them but we have had a good two years on the expansion of Local Link nationally.

On the issues of planning, and the Minister of State mentioned the big infrastructure projects, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has said he will not build the western rail corridor from Sligo and Collooney right the way down to Galway. That is a huge problem, and this is a Green Minister telling us he wants to invest in rural Ireland. It is not happening. It is not happening in our road infrastructure either or in many other areas.

I was at the ploughing earlier this year, and many came in to talk to us in the tent. The two big issues they talked about were rural planning and housing. People cannot get houses for their families. Houses in the west of Ireland and outside of urban areas are somewhat cheaper but then the services are not there. They do not have adequate health, GP or education services. All of these things have to be rural-proofed. I often hear it said that there has to be investment in rural areas but it simply is not happening, and we need to see some policy put in place where, if you are going to bring out guidelines, those guidelines have to have teeth. They have to make sure that when policy is being developed by all the different Departments, that they have to look to rural proofing to ensure people who live in rural areas do not just get an equal chance but get extra because they have been left behind for so long.

While it can be said that things are growing in some areas and people are moving out to the west or rural areas, the reality is that the country, as it develops, is developing more along the east coast and less on the west.

I would underline the national broadband roll-out and the Local Link expansion. On the broader issue of rural proofing, while I think this document is going to help when it is published, one of the strongest things we have in Government to help us rural-proof things is that we have a Department of Rural and Community Development. What that means, obviously, is there is a senior Minister at the table when issues come up. More importantly, in the background, what a lot of us do not see is that every Government memo is circulated to each Department and our officials have an opportunity to input the rural perspective into every significant Government decision. That happens in the background all the time. The Department was only established in 2017 but we are working on not just years but decades of Dublin-centric development. That is going to take time but the fact that we have a Government Department and a senior Minister at the table fighting for rural Ireland with regard to every decision is probably the most effective piece of rural proofing that we need to continue into the future.

My question relates to Inishbofin off the coast of Galway, and specifically with regard to a transfer of land from the county council to the Minister of State's Department and then on to the Health Service Executive, to facilitate the building of a primary care or health centre. I followed this up with the senior Minister and in fairness, she took a hands-on approach to the matter. It has been going on for 20 years, so I would like the Minister of State to update me on where that is at.

I thank the Deputy for the question. I have good news this morning. I am pleased to advise that the transfer of land on which the Inishbofin airstrip is situated has been completed as of today.

The Deputy will recall that these lands were acquired by Galway County Council by way of compulsory purchase order, which was originally initiated over 20 years ago. The Chief State Solicitor's office has been acting on behalf of the Department and has advised that the transfer of lands to my Department is due to be concluded. It is concluded - I am sorry, I am working on yesterday's notes but I got news this morning that it was done.

Regarding the part of the site that is intended for use by the HSE for a primary care centre, the CSSO has also advised that contracts and maps were sent to the HSE's solicitors on 16 August. This contract could not be completed until the lands were transferred to my Department. We will shortly proceed to complete this onward transfer to the HSE and I am advised that this is expected to take place in November.

Officials from my Department visited the island last month, met with representatives of Inishbofin Development Company and also inspected the airstrip lands, including the area to be transferred to the HSE for the health centre.

Work has also been taking place at the airstrip over the past few weeks to complete the installation of permanent helipad lighting. I understand the ESB is due to connect the power to the lights in the next week or so.

This will ensure the coastguard can conduct air medical evacuations all year round. If the Deputy is interested, and I am sure she is, I can give her some updates on Inis Oírr and Inis Meáin piers in follow-up replies.

I very much appreciate the good news. As I said, it has taken 20 years to get the land. Let me concentrate on the good news that it is now in the Department's possession and the project will go to the HSE. The process should be completed by November. I will then be able to take this issue to a different Department, depending on what the electorate says, to ensure the health centre is built. I welcome that. The Minister of State probably does not have any idea what the plans of the HSE are in terms of when construction will start. I refer to the Minister of State's generous offer to update me on the other islands. I would very much appreciate that.

As the Deputy might suspect, I do not have details on the HSE plans. This project will pass to it soon in terms of further questions.

My officials and Galway County Council have worked continuously to progress the pier developments on Inis Oírr and Inis Meáin. I can confirm that progress has been made in recent months. In July last year, the Minister gave approval to issue a request for tender for the development of the Inis Oírr pier and Galway County Council is currently undertaking this process. The closing date for the receipt of stage 2 tenders was 23 August and Galway County Council is currently carrying out an assessment and evaluation of all valid tender responses. I understand it is working on the final business case, with a view to submitting it to my Department next month.

Progress is also being made on the Inis Meáin harbour facilities and a request for tender was launched by Galway County Council on 19 July, with a closing date for submissions of 20 September. The current status of the Inis Meáin feasibility study on marine infrastructure improvement options is that the closing date for submission of tenders was 20 September and the responses are currently being assessed, with a view to appointing a consultant in the coming weeks.

Again, there is a long history to the projects on both islands. Inis Meáin, in particular, has gone through phases 1, 2 and 3. I can tell the Minister of State about the level of frustration on the ground. We have certainly felt it as TDs. Regarding Inis Oírr, the county council is currently examining the tenders. Is a business case being prepared simultaneously? What is the position? When will that business case be submitted?

Regarding Inis Meáin, did consultation on the feasibility study conclude on 20 September? It is hard to note the dates as the Minister of State is speaking. He has said a little progress has been made, in terms of taking minor steps forward. I call them minor because the level of frustration in Inis Meáin is significant. I would appreciate if the Minister of State could give me the details in writing. I welcome the progress on the health centre.

I will do that. Regarding Inis Oírr, I understand the county council is working on the final business case, with a view to submitting it to my Department next month. On Inis Meáin, the current status of the feasibility study is that the closing date for the submission of tenders was 20 September. The responses are currently being assessed, with a view to appointing a consultant in the coming weeks.