Ms Sarah Clancy:

From my experience, yes. I have not seen evidence. We receive lots of indications of support, but they are not of great use in paying bills or staff. Our community groups are also under-resourced. I refer to community groups that work on climate action. We see funding streams passing them by because they do not have someone available. Take for example the LEADER programme, which provides funding for rural development, some of which relates to climate action. A group has to be willing to voluntarily set about a large project, involving all the bureaucracy and governance. If we wanted to turn our community centre into a green hub, people would have to sit on the committee on a voluntary basis, which they do over and again. However, the State cannot continue to provide funding and supports to business and enterprise, and all the other factors at play, and expect community interests to fund themselves through good will. We in Clare do an extraordinary amount of work with the €20,000 funding, which is true for other PPNs. One would not believe what we can do. However, it is because the majority of people engaged with us are giving their time, effort and expertise for free. They are not then treated equally either, like if person comes in and says "I am the director of services" compared with a person who showed up for nothing.