Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is fair to say that, constitutionally, rights to property are not absolute but are subject to the exigencies of the common good. Nobody is saying that when a person comes to make a claim his or account would not be paid. There is all the money coming in plus the reserve fund for that end. The problem is that about €300 million is written in the books of the State, of which the vast majority has been paid out. That is a contingent liability and it stops the Minister from supporting very worthwhile projects. I believe there are two measures he could adopt immediately. One is flagship projects where dormant account money is used to match community or philanthropic money. The other is the discretionary money we were giving to the RAPID area implementation teams, or AITs, for small projects within areas of severe disadvantage.

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