Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Can the Minister confirm the €3 million reduction in the budget? The project in Bekan is really interesting and has massive potential for east Mayo. What is being done was in the Minister's Department to ensure that potential is reached? That project will not happen on its own. Knock, Ballyhaunis and Claremorris need to get the kind of wins they need out of it and there must be a plan in place for those towns. For instance, there needs to be a plan in place for accommodation for people who are going to use that facility. Is somebody driving the local authority, which in this case is Mayo County Council, to come up with a plan that knits that huge development with the towns around it, so that they get the win we want them to get rather than us hoping, or assuming, they will get a win? At the moment people are being bussed in and out. Somebody has to drive it in order to get the impact. That is where this fund should come in. Fund the project but in order for it to deliver its full capacity and full benefit, somebody must also drive it on.

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