Ms Maria Graham:

Mr. O'Brien might be able to talk about it from the perspective of the rural fund but certainly from the urban fund perspective, we have been oversubscribed and have not had difficulty in finding good projects. We are conscious that some projects were submitted that did not meet the criteria for the urban fund and we want to work with them to define them for the future. The advantage of having the Town Centre First policy and the plan is that there is that engagement with the community around what the vision for the town is. The next generation of projects should come from that.

The other issue I might touch on relates to banks. The Housing Agency has had a housing acquisition fund where it has been dealing with banks in terms of properties as part of that and has done a lot of work in recent years. We are now looking at that acquisition fund and where it goes in the future. I know the Housing Agency is also engaging with a number of institutions that may have their own properties in areas that might be suitable. Senator Boyhan mentioned former Garda stations. There is a range of buildings that might be put to use and there might be an advantage in the Housing Agency centralising and working with local authorities in that area. I will pass over to Ms Clifford to talk about problems.