2026-07-14

19. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if he plans to substantially increase funding for the CLÁR programme in light of the recent expansion of the scheme’s eligibility. [53185/26]

This relates to the CLÁR programme in light of the recent expansion of the scheme's eligibility. I really welcome the expansion of the CLÁR scheme. It is something that I think all of us representing rural areas and, indeed, many councillors from all parties and none have been seeking for a long time. It is something about which, as the Minister probably knows, I have put in several written questions over recent weeks. I am talking here about not just an increase in funding to keep pace with inflation but a substantial increase to take into account of the increased number of areas covered.

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.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as sin. On the ground, in rural areas, particularly those deprived rural areas, we see the advantage of CLÁR. It is relatively small money. There are small amounts that are provided, but that money goes really far in these areas and it is very much appreciated. It is possibly not transformative but it really helps to keep those communities' heads above the water. We have spoken here about the challenges communities are facing in terms of housing and demographics. The last time the three of us were in this Chamber discussing these matters, we were talking about isolation and loneliness. There are so many challenges. We could talk about rural policing. We could talk about access to public services. There are so many issues facing rural areas, particularly those more isolated and less well-off rural areas, and the CLÁR funding is really valuable. I encourage the Minister to do what he can to make that argument in his budgetary discussions this year.

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.

I wish the Minister luck in those negotiations and discussions ahead of budget 2027. Those of us who represent CLÁR areas and rural areas will be watching. The addition of those townlands - Glenwilliam, Tallow, Lismore and other areas the Minister mentioned - is really welcome and will facilitate groups on the ground there accessing funding. Not every area, unfortunately, can be included in CLÁR funding, but that is something we might revisit and have a discussion about at some stage. I know a threshold or a line has to be drawn somewhere, but I note that in the Comeragh area of County Waterford - the Portlaw-Kilmacthomas local electoral area - there were no new areas designated for CLÁR funding. That could be a blessing in disguise in some ways because the metric is not there to qualify but, on the other hand, it means that those community groups that are facing some of the same challenges do not qualify. It is something that maybe we can come back to and have a look at some time in the future and maybe keep that expansion going, maybe not year on year but over time, in order that more and more areas would begin to qualify.

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.