Mr. Thomas Carney:

If we want to keep villages populated and houses from being abandoned or boarded up we have to provide basic services. This year we will probably have a very dry summer. Mr. Ivers's tenants will be on the council's list for a house or they will be in a hotel somewhere or Breaffy House. This is what is happening. If we want to keep villages whole and functioning we have to provide basic services. Back in the 1950s my father was at the council offices and there were seven children in his family. Mr. Ivers's parents reared 13 children. They struggled through washing and everything else done with children. Here we are again in 2024. It has taken 12 years to put in a mile and a half of piping through fields. Everybody is 100% behind it going through whatever field, ditch or gap but they are met with bureaucracy that ties up everything. This is a minor project. Last year I read in a newspaper that thousands of euro were sitting unspent in the council office. The newspaper did an article on it. What is happening is a shame. We need to figure out how to make it work.