Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator O'Reilly. There is quite a bit there. With regard to LEADER, it is EU cofunded, so it is not just us that lay down the rules there. It is intensely monitored in terms of funding. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I are very focused on trying to make our schemes as accessible as possible where we can. There still has to be accountability. I do not want my officials having to appear before the Committee of Public Accounts. We want to make sure they are accessible, but it is harder with LEADER because of that EU cofunding piece. There are some local development companies that are brilliant at guiding community organisations through it, and there are some wonderful LEADER officers across the country who, I will not say hand-hold, but guide people through the process. That is an area on which we can work.

There are a couple of different issues with regard to town and village renewal. Town and village renewal does the public realm spaces, absolutely, but we also have a building and land acquisition measure for 2025 where a local authority can purchase a derelict or vacant building. It can actually buy the building and put it back into use for community spaces.

We also give funding for what we call "product development". A local authority might have a product that needs some seed funding or seed research. That measure is also available under the town and village renewal scheme. The painting scheme the Senator mentioned is very important, but it is more important to us that more long-term work is done.

In terms of building or land acquisition, the deadline this year was 2 May. We are currently assessing the applications that were received. I have seen some fantastic examples. An old shop in Leitrim was acquired and is being reimagined as an art space in the middle of the town. It is accessible to young people and people with disabilities and is owned by the local community.

We are looking at the RAPID programme. There have been prolonged discussions in the context of development. The Minister of state is focused in that regard. Exactly the towns mentioned by the Senator are those on which we need to focus in terms or urban deprivation and renewal.

We had a long discussion of LIS earlier, but I will give the Senator some of the figures she is looking for. At the end of December 2024, 4,130 roads nationally were awaiting funding. She is right that there were 279 such roads in Cavan as one has been added since the end of December. We have spent significantly on LIS in recent years. Since it was reintroduced in 2017, €169.9 million has been allocated to LIS alone. We have expanded eligibility, which is adding to the number of roads that qualify for LIS.

I also said earlier that there are cost ranges in terms of square metres. It goes from €15.60 per sq. m in one county to €49.15 per sq. m in another. That is a big range in cost. I will say clearly that Cavan County Council is not one of these, but in 2024, six counties had LIS underspends. That is exactly the reaction I got earlier. I cannot understand it. Some of the them are small counties and other are quite big. That does not help us. The Minister of State and I have made it clear within the Department that LIS is a priority. When counties have underspends while also having large numbers of roads awaiting repair, it does not help our case within government. I am looking to see if we have extra savings in 2025 to allocate more money to LIS to get those lists down. I know that it is very important for communities and people living on those roads.

We do not service enterprise land. As a Department, we share that work with the Department of enterprise, under the regional enterprise plans. I am aware of the particular scheme in place in Cootehill. There is a fantastically proactive enterprise section in Cavan County Council. It worked on that scheme too, and it is something I am more than willing to consider.