Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

Will the Minister agree there is a need to be more open about how CLÁR funding is accessed and used? I cite the example of his Cabinet colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, who made an announcement on child care last Friday. He stated that €1.1 million of the money was being allocated to RAPID and CLÁR areas. Unless one had a map one could not tell which was specific RAPID or CLÁR funding. Part of the problem in knowing whether the budget is being effectively spent or whether it is additional money is that we do not receive that information.

A possible use for CLÁR funding, small as it is, should be to go beyond basic infrastructure and see how isolated rural communities can benefit. Perhaps the will suggest to his colleague, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, that some of this money be used to update the information technology infrastructure given that many isolated communities cannot take advantage of a world that is moving apace in this area?

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