Public Participation Networks
Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the position regarding the review of public participation networks to ensure they are fit for purpose for climate action, as laid out in appendix 1 of policy measures in Our Rural Future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [Ref: 28135/23]
Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh
This is a timely enough question considering we will be discussing Our Rural Future tomorrow. It arises from one of the commitments in appendix 1 of that document, namely, to conduct a review of the public participation networks, PPNs. I want to get a sense from the Minister of State of where that work is at in the Department at the minute and where we plan to go from here to strengthen a structure that could be extremely valuable in facing up to the crisis in society.
Deputy Joe O’Brien
I thank the Deputy for the question. PPNs provide representation for the community sector in local policymaking, giving local groups a say in local government decisions that affect their communities. There is a PPN in each of the 31 local authority areas and membership of a PPN is open to volunteer-led and not-for-profit groups in each area. The network has grown substantially since its establishment and over 18,500 groups nationwide are now registered with their local PPN.
In line with the programme for Government, a review of PPN structures was commissioned by my Department to ensure PPNs continue to be fit for purpose generally, including for climate action, and to make recommendations to support their ongoing development. The review report was published in June 2022. Following publication, my Department set up a working group to oversee the development of a roadmap of future actions to support the operation of PPNs. The working group is drawn from a range of PPN stakeholder groups, including PPN staff and volunteers, civil society groups, local authorities and relevant Government Departments. A draft roadmap has been agreed by the working group in recent weeks and my Department has just appointed an independent service provider to consult PPN stakeholders more widely on the draft roadmap and make recommendations on its content based on the feedback received. A finalised roadmap is expected to be submitted for approval later this year. The working group will remain in place to oversee the implementation of the roadmap and ensure it enhances the effective functioning of PPNs.
In addition, PPNs already have an important role in local climate action. Under section 15 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021, local authorities are mandated to consult PPNs in the development of local climate action plans. In this way, the volunteers that make up PPNs can feed their invaluable on-the-ground experiences and local knowledge into local climate planning. Local authorities are required by law to consult PPNs for their local climate action plans.
Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh
I thank the Minister of State for his response. The pivotal piece is one of the first things he said, namely, giving local groups a say in local government decisions that affect their communities. I am not convinced that is what we actually see with our PPNs. I am aware the Minister of State is absolutely steeped in this sector. I imagine most of us in the House this evening have had some sort of route to market with PPNs. They can feel like a talking shop. I smile wryly looking at the language. We are having a review, then a review report, a working group, we are overseeing the development of a roadmap, then we have a draft roadmap, an independent consultant to consult more widely and that is going to make recommendations before we receive a finalised roadmap. That feels very like the PPNs in some way. I have been in this situation. There is a very long journey from somebody in a PPN group having a good idea to that idea seeing the light of day, so we need to streamline the process. If we are using PPNs for community engagement, we need to make it authentic engagement.
Deputy Joe O’Brien
Authentic engagement can take a bit of time sometimes and PPNs are specifically set up with a flat structure. That makes them difficult when it comes to decision-making sometimes and that has been recognised. I was also very conscious of what the Deputy listed, but it has been done in conjunction with the PPNs, so participatory and co-design processes are being used to ensure stakeholders are actively involved in designing the actions that will affect PPNs over the coming years. We have 18,500 members and we want to bring them all on a process of change as well. That takes a bit of time and it is worth a bit of time.
The review found the performance, understanding and communication of what PPNs really do is variable across local authorities. Some PPNs are doing excellent jobs in making their voices heard and some need more support. Many local stakeholders still do not understand the role of PPNs fully.
Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh
I thank the Minister of State. If I sounded cynical in my first contribution, I am not. Community action is where it is at. National politics can feel very distant from people and individual action feels like you are getting lost. In their community, people can make a difference and they can feel that difference. It seems to me, looking at the challenges we face with climate, biodiversity, housing and civic engagement, which is one of the OECD better living indices we score least well on, that community mobilisation is the answer to all of these things. However, sometimes people who are engaging through the PPNs lose heart because it takes so much time for that good idea to get to market. I also have a nagging concern they are too dependent on their local authorities and consequently they do not have that kind of external view of their local authority. They do not feel they can have an opinion on it and at times that limits the usefulness of the structure.
Deputy Joe O’Brien
It is important to say the PPNs are independent structures and are funded independently. We gave them a significant budgetary increase last year as well.
I have a couple of important points to add. On foot of the findings from the PPN structural review, the Department is commissioning research to investigate any potential barriers to involvement in PPNs. The research will explore the demographic characteristics of groups currently involved in PPNs and make recommendations on increasing participation of any underrepresented groups in PPNs. I would like to see more young people involved in PPNs and it is something we need to target. On the Deputy’s question, the Department is also providing supports to a group of PPN stakeholders to develop a paper exploring the potential of PPNs to specifically promote climate action locally. Once that paper is finalised, it will be submitted to the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action for its consideration. The workshop on that is on 1 July. Membership of the environmental pillar is growing significantly, especially over the last four or five years. That is a reason to be encouraged, going forward.
