Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 9 May 2024

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The development and enhancement of community centres across the country has been a priority for the Government. This has been achieved through a range of my Department’s funding schemes, including the new community centre investment fund that I introduced two years ago. Under the 2022 fund, over €45.8 million has been committed for improvement and refurbishment works to more than 860 existing community centres. I am happy to confirm that approximately 600 of these projects are now complete or have submitted their final progress reports. These progress reports are currently being reviewed in advance of final payment. Project extensions have been provided for approximately 250 projects, with a small number of other extension requests currently being assessed. The majority of these extensions are to July. In a small number of cases where exceptional circumstances have arisen, extensions beyond this date are being considered. I believe this represents substantial progress under the fund and I know that the funding is being put to good use.

Following on from this investment, I wanted to assist community groups striving to build their own community centres to service local needs. In 2023, I announced a new round of the community centre investment fund to support communities with shovel-ready projects for the construction of new community centres. Last month, I was delighted to announce an investment of more than €30 million, which will deliver 12 new community centres nationwide. These are shovel-ready projects and I expect the tendering process to commence for each over the coming months. The details of all of these projects are available on my Department’s website.

I welcome that 600 projects have been completed or are at completion stage. Previously, I raised with the Minister the matter of some centres that had encountered unexpected difficulties, so an opportunity for them to continue accessing the fund is important.

When the fund was originally proposed, applications amounted to approximately €70 million. While funding has already been allocated and is going through to projects well, other projects worth another €30 million or €40 million still need to be done. I am referring to the projects that did not get into this round. In the upcoming budgetary process, will there be a new round of funding?

The short answer is "Yes", as I am considering another round of funding. This is an issue that the Deputy has raised with me several times. Sports capital grants are successful and popular and have been on the go for a long time, but we had no dedicated fund for community centres. During Covid, we saw how they did not have the same opportunities to raise money. Like a house, if you do not keep doing bits every year, it starts to fall into disrepair. It was important that we be able to provide some assistance. We all know the value of community centres.

I was in Hartstown in the Deputy’s constituency when I launched the fund for new community centres and I know the difference the fund has made there. I hope the work in Hartstown is well under way and I look forward to returning at some stage.

It is under way. My wife is on the board now, so I am kept abreast of exactly what is happening in the centre. The board is brilliant and has done incredible work. The fund has been important to the centre.

I welcome that we are considering the fund’s future and that it will not just be a one-off. As the Minister said, we do not just do our houses up once and then leave them for 30 or 40 years. We continuously upgrade our houses and try to keep on top of the maintenance work. Many centres missed out on the last tranche of funding, so I will certainly be telling centres in my constituency to get their applications ready and the necessary work in place so that they know what they are doing. I hope that, in the next budgetary process, we get those projects included that were not included in the previous tranche of funding.

I was at Hartstown with the former Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, when I announced €30 million for 12 new community centres whose applications had been received. That was two weeks ago and I have managed to visit six of them already. I hope to see the other six. Those projects arose where there were new communities and increased populations and they needed community centres. I was delighted to be able to announce that funding.

There will be another round. I am considering having a round for existing community centres. In the meantime, there are other funding options available to communities under, for example, LEADER, CLÁR and the town and village renewal scheme. They should watch out for announcements about when those funds are open so that, if they need extra money, they can apply to them.

I wish to continue the community centres investment fund. It is a great fund that helps many people. Sometimes, the grants are small, but they make a significant difference and it is important to support communities. The community centre is at the heart of the community, so it is an important place.

If it is within her gift, I ask the Minister to request that the national judging committee of the Tidy Towns competition allow for judging to take place a little later than normal, given the existence of posters which might serve as a mitigating factor in the judging criteria. I am unsure whether posters are such a factor but I am asking for a little bit of headroom while the election campaign is under way.

The SuperValu Tidy Towns competition is a unique volunteer-led programme that makes a hugely positive contribution in communities across Ireland. Ahead of the competition launch each year, officials in my Department meet with SuperValu, the main sponsor of the competition, and with our highly skilled and competent panel of adjudicators. My Department's role is to facilitate the administration of the adjudication process, but my officials are not actively involved in the formal adjudication of competition entries. Adjudication of competition entries typically takes place during the months of June and July over an intensive six-week period. Based on the experience in previous years, approximately 900 towns and villages are likely to undergo assessment during this period. In the event that the adjudication period coincides with an election, adjudicators are aware that election posters may be displayed, within the allowed timeframe specified under the Litter Pollution Act 1997, as amended, in towns and villages entered in the Supervalu Tidy Towns competition. My Department has advised the panel of adjudicators that posters in place within the allowed timeframes should not impact on any Tidy Towns scoring.

The 2024 SuperValu Tidy Towns competition was launched on 23 March, with a closing date of 8 May. I wish all groups entering the best of luck and commend them on the excellent and inspirational work they undertake to make our towns and villages better places to live, work, visit and enjoy. The Tidy Towns competition is a great event. There are so many volunteers. I do not need to tell the Deputy about them; he knows it perfectly well, as does everybody else. The volunteers make a huge contribution to their communities and we all owe them a debt of gratitude. I look forward to announcing the results of the 2024 SuperValu Tidy Towns competition and meeting the winning entries at an awards ceremony later in the year. It is a wonderful event.

I thank the Minister for her reply. Tidy Towns committees throughout the country will take comfort from her reply insofar as there is that communication between the Minister's officials and SuperValu Tidy Towns. It will not be lost on Supervalu and the Musgrave Group that customers are voters and voters are customers, and I am sure they will allow for that . At least there is clarity of communications around the rules governing when posters can go up and when they need to be taken down, which is welcome. At least there is an understanding among Tidy Towns adjudicators of that process under the law. I welcome the Minister's reply, which will give comfort to many Tidy Towns committees, particularly where there are voluntary codes or arrangements whereby poster bans exist in certain towns, such as my own, for instance.

I thank the Deputy for his comments. I recognise that this is a very busy time of the year for the Tidy Towns committees and everyone is putting their best foot forward. They want to make their town or village more attractive. For as long as I have been involved in politics, there has been a debate around posters. Personally, I would not lose any sleep if no posters were put up, but I recognise that first-time candidates want to get their face out there and I can see why they are needed. It is part of our democratic process, so I am not going to wade into any debate on that one. It has long been a tradition in Irish politics. It was only after midnight on Tuesday that we saw all of the posters going up. They look very fresh and nice at the minute in the good weather. There are clear time periods during which posters are allowed before an election, as well as regulations specifying how quickly they have to be taken down after an election. That is set down in legislation. I encourage people to operate within the timeframe. Those putting up the posters should ensure that, when they are being taken down, the cable ties are taken down with them, because that is a torture for the Tidy Towns committees.

I thank the Minister. I stand before her as someone who will not be putting up any more posters on my own behalf. I wholeheartedly support the idea of postering. Perhaps it is easy for me to say this now, given that incumbency is a powerful thing, but when one is trying to get in the door of places like this, the poster is important, as is visibility, and there is a place for it. I share the Minister's sentiment in that regard.

The Deputy is right. We all have teams who put up and take down the posters. There is a need to be careful because sometimes posters have been put up low on the pole first as it is easier, and then you have to go up and up until you are at the top of the pole. I am always very conscious of the possibility of somebody slipping and falling. Those putting up the posters need to be careful. The Deputy and I, and all Members, indeed, would give them that warning to be careful when putting up the posters and not to do any damage to themselves. It is great that they put up the posters but I ask that the cable ties be taken down afterwards. If they do not take them down, the Tidy Towns people have to try to remove them, which is quite difficult. I ask people putting up posters to be aware and to work within the timeframes. They should put them up, take them down and job done.

Community centres bring us together, whether for sporting, educational or social occasions. They provide a focal point for everyone in local communities and particularly for the most marginalised members of our society. In the past two years I have approved funding of over €75 million through the community centre investment fund. I am sure the Deputy will agree that this is a really substantial investment through what is a completely new scheme introduced by this Government.

I should also point out that my Department is providing support for community centres and community amenities through other funding programmes such as the town and village renewal scheme, the CLÁR programme, LEADER and the local enhancement programme. Only last month I announced funding of more than €20 million for 82 projects under the town and village renewal scheme. Many of these projects involved works to community centres and other community facilities. The development of large-scale new facilities on greenfield or brownfield sites was the focus of the community centre investment fund projects that I also announced last month. There are 12 projects supported with funding of €30 million. No application was received in respect of a community centre in Fair Hill, County Cork, but I expect there will be other opportunities to apply for funding for such projects in future across the range of schemes offered by my Department.

I am now considering the next round of funding under the community centre investment fund, what it will fund and how it can best support more communities. I remain committed to ensuring that funding for these vital community resources will continue to be available across a range of schemes implemented by my Department.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. First, I welcome the money that has been put into the community fund. However, the people of Fair Hill and Fairfield have not had a community centre for decades. For the past ten years, this brilliant community has again been trying to develop a community centre. At the moment, it has a two-bedroom house from Cork City Council, to which hundreds of children come for youth groups every week. There is also a men's shed group and an art group making use of this little two-bedroom house. This community has been failed by the Government and Cork City Council for decades. When one considers the number of children involved and the work they and the volunteers are doing, it is obvious they need help.

Cork City Council needs extra resources to help to deliver this assistance. Those involved are volunteers and they cannot be out every night of the week, working with children, families and the community. The Minister knows how hard it is to put an application together to get a site ready. More work needs to be done to support communities to be able to do this. It is a fabulous community.

I have no doubt it is a good community. I will tell the Deputy a story. I was talking to a fellow one day and he asked me: “How come we got no money? How come we did not get any grant?” I asked if they had put in an application and he said “No.” I said that if you do not put in an application, it is not going to fall out of the sky.

I appreciate there is work to be done in putting together applications but people need to work with their local authority. In this case, it is Cork City Council, which has a community section, like all local authorities. I would say to that local community to come together and come forward with a plan. There are different places they can apply to get funding to put together a proposal. For example, LEADER has been very good in the past at providing money for a feasibility study. I would suggest to that community to get their plans together, work with the local authority and get their application in. The Government cannot help if they do not get an application in. We will be happy to support any community that puts in an application.

We are trying to get the money for the feasibility study. This group is currently doing that but it is taking years to access any funding. Maybe it is different with the funding for shovel-ready projects but this site is not shovel-ready and will not be until the feasibility study is carried out.

The question is whose responsibility it is to deliver a community centre. Is it always on the volunteers? These are people with their own families who are working their own jobs. What do we want them to do? Do we want them filling in forms and have that as their job, or do we want them out helping young people? They have a summer camp that children from all over Cork city come to join.

All I am saying is that community groups might not have the resources or skills to get these projects over the line. They need to be supported. Along with the funding the Minister is providing, is this something she can do to help them work with the local authorities? Fair Hill has been part of Cork for hundreds of years and this community has been there for decades. All they are looking for is a community centre for their children and their community.

I often find it is good if communities talk to other communities that have been successful. I have seen over the years that some communities are better than others at completing application forms. There has to be capacity building, which I accept. Cork City Council submitted an application for a new-build community centre at Newton Heights, Boherboy Road, Cork city, and that was successful. The community were able to come together and work with the local authority, and they got the application in. I would say to the community in Fair Hill that they should take advice and have a conversation with the community in Boherboy, but also work with the local authority. This has to come through the local authority, which has a community section. The community need to engage with the local authority and work with it.

I will not be found wanting and I have not been found wanting in supporting community centres across the country. Some 680 projects were funded through the last fund and there were 30 grants for new-build community centres. It is successful. We will not be found wanting but they have to come together themselves and work with the local authority. That is the process.