Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)

I have been reading through the budget documentation over the past fortnight and I realised the town and village renewal scheme has been cut by €1 million. It has been cut from €22 million to €21 million in this year's allocation. If we put this into an inflation calculator, it amounts to a €2.2 million cut in real terms. As somebody who worked in local government and served as a local councillor for many years, I see the value of the scheme, but I also understand how scarce money can be and how construction inflation is really hampering the ability of local authorities such as Waterford City and County Council to carry out work and deliver projects on the ground. Is there any comment on this? I do not expect Mr. O'Brien to give me a different result from an inflation calculator because, depending on the reference amounts put in, you can get an effective cut of €2 million or €3 million. I did an average on a couple of different calculations and I got €2.2 million. In numerical terms, it is a €1 million cut to the town and village renewal scheme.