Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is a fair point. I accept what the Deputy is saying and I appreciate his acknowledging what would have happened if I had done the opposite as well. If I had said in the plan that a particular city or project was going to get X, I would be asked here why another city did not get Y. I have a great deal of experience now with the roll-out of the local infrastructure housing activation fund which was a bid-based process and is in the process of allocating approximately €200 million across the country in a way that requires co-funding. That structure has allowed us to meet the governance requirements of how we grant aid significant amounts of public money. The way I will deal with the concern, and I understand why it is being raised, is by meeting the timelines I have identified there. I have been asked about two issues, whether by a local authority or a private investor working with a local authority. One is whether there is a budget line available to do projects that investors or local authorities are not in a position to do by themselves. As I said last Friday, there will be. On the second issue, I will outline publicly what the criteria will be. We will aim to open applications for that fund as soon as the summer because we need to be able to demonstrate how this is going to work to enable some projects to move forward.