Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for coming here. Nobody is going to disagree that EU and PEACE funding has been really welcome. Much of it has been used for really good projects. I welcome some of the commentary on the difficulties. I will start on the fear. We are talking about PEACE IV and the local authorities playing a major role. There is always the fear that moneys will be directed into what should be finance for somewhere else. However, because of some of the difficulties, I accept that capacity can be brought to bear. I saw a very successful project very close to where I live, namely, at Muirhevnamor Community Centre.

It is an extension, which was named after Kevin Mulgrew, a friend of mine who had a huge involvement in the local community. At the end of the day it was due to the SEUPB, local authorities and the Department all working together but with all the difficulties that one can imagine. There were 1 million bureaucratic obstacles that involved a bit of jumping around.

I also want to make a point about INTERREG funding. My wife works in the Changing Lives Initiative, which provides programmes for parents of relatively young children who present with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, or symptoms of it without requiring a diagnosis. That is a project that has gone on to a different level of funding and it will hopefully be expanded by the HSE and others. We all know the issues that exist there. In fairness, that is really positive. Sometimes that is down to the people who are behind the project and who can drive it. At times, I have heard people complain about some of the funding. They say it is always the same people that get it and that Louth County Council is only too willing to give it to X, Y and Z. Then when we talk to the council it says the problem is that these are the people who apply. We should have greater tools and be able to facilitate those organisations that do not have the capacity. That is where I am going with my questions.