Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Last Sunday week, I was at the opening of a new community facility. The Department made a grant of €130,000 available to that project, which is a huge contribution. The project cost more than €460,000, so the €130,000 grant from the Department was very welcome.

Do we learn from previous experiences with the capital of culture? I was Lord Mayor of Cork in 2003-04. In 2005-06, Cork was the European Capital of Culture. The same mistakes seem to have been made in Galway as were made in Cork back in 2005-06. Surely the Department should have a protocol in place in order that there is a clear plan in place for projects such as this, rather than trying to make it up as we go along, as seems to have happened with Galway. The same thing happened in Cork. I am being up-front about that. We could get far better delivery on these projects if we had a clear plan, rather than making them up as go along. Has the Department looked at that, especially the issue of securing European funding? There is European funding for culture and so on and I am not sure we are making every effort to get it. Will Ms Licken outline what engagement we have at European level and address the issue of having appropriate structures in place when we secure funding and ensuring we get good value for money?