Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

A total of €13.854 million has been drawn down to date. To be fair to the local authorities, the schemes were always intended to be run over a 15-month period. We allocated the funding in October and expect it to be spent this year. It is a rolling scheme and that is the way it will operate, regardless of who will have this job in the future. That is the way it has to be because local authorities are not able to deliver schemes within the year.

They need a bit of time to get their Part 8 projects in place and there is other work they need to do. Local authorities have not had themselves in glory around the country on this programme or any other. I will ask my officials, over the next number of days, to write to the local authorities about all of the funding I have allocated under the CLÁR programme, outdoor recreation, rural recreation and I will seek four-monthly reports from the local authorities to see what they are delivering.

As the Deputy is aware, the town and village scheme has been very good. We allocated €200,000, for example, for the community centre and Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ballycastle. That was with the local developer who developed the street. The Céide Fields Visitor Centre gets €1.5 million. The signature point in Ballycastle and the GAA there are also getting funding. It is not all about funding but Ballycastle is a town we should use as an example because it has been given a lift. That has happened all over the country. The same thing has happened with the funding we have given for the walk scheme in Drumshanbo.

The town and village scheme has been very good, as the Deputy knows. We allocated €200,000 to Ballycastle, for example, for the community centre and the Ballinglen Arts Foundation. That was with the local developer who developed the street. The Céide ields there are getting €1.5 million. Signature Point in Ballycastle is also getting funding, as is the GAA. It is not all about funding, but what it has done for that town, which we should use as an example, it has given it a lift. That has happened all over the country. The same thing has happened with the funding we have to the walk scheme in Drumshanbo.

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