Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I will be brief. A further €3 million in savings have been allocated to the CLÁR programme under the national rural development scheme to address depopulation and defects in infrastructure and services in rural areas. The joint committee discussed previously the positive contribution the CLÁR programme can make in rural areas and I am pleased we have made prompt progress. I hope to open the scheme this week, with funding of €3 million.

As members will be aware, the Tidy Towns awards were announced this week and I take this opportunity to congratulate Skerries on its win. The Tidy Towns committees nationwide do a tremendous job and cannot be thanked enough for the work they do. In many towns, they do much work that State agencies would otherwise have to do. We do not sufficiently recognise the role these organisations play. Every single Tidy Towns committee does a great service to the country as well as to villages and towns and I thank them for doing so.