Mattie McGrath: Demands End to Antasca's State Funding Overreach

I want to thank you, Cathaoirleach, and wish you well as we break up this evening, and thank you for your cooperation and your whole team, Peter Finnegan and everybody else, throughout this term. Cathaoirleach, I thank you for selecting this topic of issue. It's very, very important. A kid there, she is on a couple of book there all, on a Tashgap. A Tashgap done brilliant work in the schools competitions, Tidy Towns competitions, Green Flags, and assisting people in many other various ways and giving leadership in the country. But serious issues have now arisen, and I'm, the clock is, I don't know what way it is, please. Serious issues have arisen with Antashgap. And only quite recently I became aware of the amount of funding. Antashgap have already got four and a half million in taxpayers' money so far in 2021. In the last decade, they've got in excess of 30 million euro taxpayers' funding. State funding, but it's taxpayers' funding, ultimately. And as we know, there is a prescribed organisation, and under that, planning permissions have to be referred to them if they're anywhere near SHAs or NHAs, or indeed listed buildings, or issues like that. And I honestly believe that it's just not. They've gone into overreach. We have a situation now where a plant in Kilkenny, it's out Kilkenny, Plan B, a plant, where they're holding it up now for nearly a number of years. And when planning was granted by the Kilkenny County Council, the EPA gave the licence, and they've taken it to the High Court three times. This is an abuse of their position. This is using taxpayers' funding to deny the very taxpayers, the farmers who have invested millions of euro, to upgrade and increase their heritage, and have the milk supplied, with the hope that it'll be made into a cheddar cheese that's so badly wanted. We have a Dutch company pulling out. The Taoiseach himself asked him at all that they would stop any more claims to this, or any more High Court appeals. And there's rumours that they may even go to Europe. I've asked them how they're funding all these cases. We met them, the Rural Independent Group, and they won't meet us again. We only had a short meeting for an hour, which they insisted on having recorded. I met them. We asked them, I mean, how are they funding these cases? They told me pro bono. I don't know any liars, or any few of them, that will do pro bono cases that will take you to the High Court several times, and European Court, just not doable. So the tap must be turned off on the funding for these. And I believe the most examined, and I'll be bringing forward an amendment in the autumn, to have them unprescribed, because they've become a nuisance now, an irritant. And they're too big for the boost, literally, and they're doing huge damage. And I have a period house in Notclofty, the late Lord Dunhamers, and it's been ruined and plagiarised, and they won't even look at all things like that. And issues that they should be looking at, they won't. But they're looking at issues where they have no business strapping farmers for doing the work that they need to do, and there's total overreach. And I hope that the Minister will have some idea about reigning the amendment. The Taoiseach told his house that he appealed and they ignored them, and they went and appealed again. So I think we have to do something to get this group, do the value of what they do, but allow business, allow farmers, and allow people to produce food for us to eat in this country. I'd like to thank the deputies for raising this issue. The Department of Environment, Climate and Communications has no legal function in relation to Antasca. The Department provides Antasca with funding for a variety of initiatives, including the National Spring Clean, the Irish Business Against Litter, National Litter League and Green Schools Programme. All payments made to Antasca are in line with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Circular 13 2014 regarding the management of grant funding provided from public money. Grant funding is paid on the basis of vouched expenditure only, whereby Antasca are required to provide supporting invoices stating that their claims relate to activities and services appropriate to the grant scheme objectives. The Antasca Green Schools initiative is a whole school programme which Deputy McGrath outlined and award scheme comprising seven steps which takes a thematic approach to environmental education. Key themes include litter and waste, energy, water, travel and biodiversity. Currently approximately 4,000 primary, secondary and special schools in Ireland are participating in the programme. The programme has been operating in Ireland since 1997 and is operated by the Environmental Education Unit of Antasca in partnership with local authorities and is supported by a number of government departments, government agencies and corporate funders. The programme covers a wide range of thematic areas and impact measurements indicate substantial positive changes in knowledge, behaviour and opinion leadership among the participants. There are also substantial direct and indirect cost savings for waste energy, water and transport fuel, schools with an associated reduction in greenhouse gases. The National Spring Clean is Ireland's largest anti-litter initiative and has been operating since 1999. The programme encourages and supports individuals and groups across society to take part in their own clean-up event. In 2020, the National Spring Clean took place without incident during a pandemic. The number of events in 2020 was 5,413 and approximately 2,900 tonnes of litter was collected. In 2021, the National Spring Clean progressed under Level 5 restrictions whereby family household bubble groups held their own clean-up within 5k radius of their homes. As the level of restrictions are lifted, the Spring Clean will be able to expand its scope and carry on through the summer and into the autumn. The estimated allocation in 2021 is in line with the 2020 allocation of €675,000. Final details on payments in 2021 will not be available until the end of the year. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome to Les Concola and I know and thank her for all her cooperation during the past year. I know she differs ferociously with me on this issue. But look, I've acknowledged all that good work. I've been involved in the Green Schools campaign. I've been in tidy towns all my life. I acknowledge the good work they've done. I just think we need to recalibrate their role. I told you about the listed building Dunham or Naukofti domain. It's been plundered. There are many other areas as well and I don't think they have any interest in it. But when it comes to jobs, when it comes to farmers trying to live, the patent nonsense of this issue. And apparently they have no issue with the plant. The issues with the government policy regarding milk production and dairy herd numbers. This is shocking. They always tell us that they are good for work. So we need to work together, we need to rein in the funding, and we need to have at least a bit of a debate. They won't talk to us again or meet us. So this has to stop. We can't keep just throwing money for every advice they give us. It's wrong. Thank you, Laskin Córle. Anthasga is a non-governmental organisation active in the areas of the environment and built heritage in Ireland. The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications has no statutory function in relation to this organisation. The Department does provide Anthasga with funding for a variety of initiatives. including the National Spring Clean, Irish Business Against Litter, National Litter League and the Green Schools Programme. A total of €5.4 million has been provided between 2012 and 2020 in respect of these environmental activities and public awareness initiatives. The estimated allocation for 2021 is in line with the 2020 allocation of €675,000. However, final details of the payment in 2021 will not be available until the end of the year. It is important to state that all payments made to Anthasga are in line with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Circular 13 2014, regarding the management of grant funding provided from public money. Grant funding is paid on the basis, as I have stated, of vouched expenditure only, whereby Anthasga are required to provide supporting invoices stating their claims relate to the activities and services appropriate to the grant scheme's objectives. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.