Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

Will the Minister of State agree that this criticism, coming immediately after the first round of allocations under the new system, undermines many of the arguments the Minister has been making, particularly in the recent dormant accounts legislation? If a system is to be seen to be accountable and accessible, it does nothing for the Government's credibility if those who have had most experience of such allocations in the past, including personal direct experience in the assessment of allocations for communities, react in such a negative way immediately following a new system being operated. For those of us who criticised the new system of allocations as having the potential to be open to abuse, particularly with successors in the Department of Community, Gaeltacht and Rural Affairs, we now have confirmation on the ground that the system does not find acceptance, is not seen to be working and has none of the qualities described by the Minister of State in terms of being open or transparent.

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