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

I am delighted that the Minister has got the community services programme back, although I am very disappointed to hear he did not get the staff. It often seems that Departments run their operations as if they were independent empires rather than part of a collective Government, although that is not the Minister's fault. My question concerns the plans to expand this scheme. There are many community facilities that are not used to their potential and many tourist facilities in community hands that could be drawing many more people into communities who would then stay there, shop there, eat meals there and so on. What plans has the Minister to expand this and has he got the backing of the Department and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform for those plans?

See this speech in context