Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not talk raiméis, unlike the Deputy across the way, and I want to put that on the record as well. The schemes I will roll out include the CLÁR programme, the rural recreation scheme, the town and village scheme and the local improvement scheme.

Deputy Ó Cuív is the very man who doubted me in the context of my budget. He kept criticising the budget. Why can he not be positive? Why can he not accept that I have opened the schemes and delivered on them? What about all the projects delivered in the past 18 months under the town and village scheme, rural recreation scheme, CLÁR programme and the LIS? Can Deputy Ó Cuív not be positive for one day and admit that I got a good budget, a 60% increase in the budget for next year? Over the next year, I will oversee almost a 100% increase in the budget for this Department. This will be a good Department. It will support and help rural Ireland.

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