Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy. In the broader context of this planned climate transition, the fundamental underlying political reality we must live up to is that every place and every person matters. It cannot be a situation of rural versus urban. We must try to provide for both. Much of this would come down to local authorities saying they are not resourced and that they do not have the resources to be able to apply for these schemes. It is not because of a lack of will or a lack of interest. If that were the case, then they would have a real problem. We provided significant new numbers of engineering staff, particularly for active travel projects around the country, and, to be honest, it was not just the rural local authorities that were slow in this regard. Dublin City Council, DCC, did not fill its positions either. It beggars my mind as to why that was the case.