Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to start with the energy support scheme. I read in the documentation that the Minister has given us that any unspent funding will be sent back to the Department. Is there any possibility for that unspent money to be put into a second tranche in the new year around energy supports? We do not really know how energy costs are going to go. We have an idea and I see from the garages that fuel costs have been dropping. However, we suspect that if we have a bad winter, that will rise substantially. Is there a possibility or thoughts that if there is money left over, there would be a second round later in the year?

I welcome the community centre fund. This is something we have been calling for over several years, so it is good to see. Certain projects in Dublin 15 have applied for it. In the short time it has been in place, has there been an evaluation or a review in regard to the actual need? How do the applications coming in and what people are applying for match the funding that is there? Do we need a substantial amount of extra funding, which I think is the case?

The community services programme is reopening early next year. I again call for the Department to look again at core funding in the context of getting people up to the minimum wage. It should be the case that projects can pay the minimum wage in order that earnings will not be affected and then people can be brought up to the living wage. That is where we should all be at.