Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Again, part of the issue here is that, as we rightly increase the capital funding back up, the pipeline of projects are not there to be able to draw that allocation down. We originally make allocations based on projects that should be in the pipeline and have come through planning and then they get stuck in planning or design or have not been agreed locally with all the various stakeholders so there are reasons for that. Much of that difficulty is probably with new sites or new accommodation, however. From what I can see there are certainly plenty of projects that we could refurbish and spend this money on, so we have asked local authorities to look at all existing accommodation that is not up to a satisfactory condition so that this money can be drawn down for those projects. I am more confident this year that this money will be spent than I would have been last year because we have put a lot more time and effort into doing this. There is also full engagement from all the stakeholders and we have to recognise that there are responsibilities and rights on all sides here to try to bring this forward. I do not single out one or two areas or stakeholders; I believe the system has not delivered. There are many involved in that system and it needs to be addressed. Hopefully, with the work we are doing this year prior to the report, we will get some progress in this space.

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