Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

I thank the Minister for his answer. Does his Department subsequently seek such information? It is important in allocating the funding that there is an awareness of public accountability on how and where it was spent. For instance, how much road improvement does €653,000 buy in County Cork and where in County Cork was the work eventually done by the county council? If that information is not being sought it is a serious deficiency. I speak also as a member of the Committee of Public Accounts. Even though the sums are small, the point of the scheme is that the small allocation can have a greater effect because it is being better targeted, but we still must know where and how it is targeted.

Can further information be got on how access has been improved in these areas because the difficulty reported is that these are roads that access facilities such as cemeteries and old routes to remote beaches, and improving them also improves access to these communities by visitors, resulting in an economic benefit. I ask this question not only for accounting of the money spent but for an analysis on behalf of the Department of the economic impact of that money because it is important to know how successful is such a programme.

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