Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach and the Deputies for their questions. I will speak first on the community recognition fund, after which the Minister of State will comment. I will then respond to Deputy Kerrane on the issues she raised.

The community recognition fund amounts to €50 million. We want the local authorities to consult the people on the ground because these are the communities that have been impacted and we want to know how we can reward them for making sacrifices. I want to see consultation with communities. I want people on the ground to come forward with suggestions on what they need to make their communities better places. That may be a new community centre or skateboard park, for example. I do not know what they want but they do and that is the point of this fund.

I have managed to secure funding for this scheme for two years. Sometimes we are constrained by a requirement to spend the money within a year. In this case, I said we could not manage the fund in one year because we want good quality projects. We will keep the pressure on to move projects on quickly because we all want to see delivery but we also need to ensure the projects are meaningful. There will be an onus on communities to engage with their local authorities and an onus on local authorities. I would like the message to go out that local authorities will consult communities. It is not what somebody else wants but what people want in their community. Let us see what comes in.

International protection applicants have been accommodated in Ballaghaderreen for a number of years. As the Chairman will know, other funds have been in place, including the town and village renewal scheme, the rural regeneration and development fund and funding via the social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP. Let us see who applies for the community recognition fund.

Deputy Paul Donnelly asked about new areas that accept new people. I will take his comments on board and keep the matter under review. I do not expect all of the funding to be allocated in the first tranche because it takes time to put a plan together. We know from experience that meaningful consultation is required. This means digging as deep as one can to get the views of people and get buy-in from local communities because that is where one gets much more success.

I take the Chairman's point. We have all encountered cases where payment for accommodation has been delayed. I know that from my own constituency work. The Government is aware of the issue. Substantial additional resources have been put into the relevant section to make sure people get paid. The staff are working their way through this. I, too, knew of people who were waiting to be paid and they have now been paid. There must be checks and balances and the right information must be provided. To be fair, many requests for payment have been lodged and additional resources have been provided.

I have covered all the questions on communities. I ask the Minister of State to comment.