Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Clare Local Development Company is an outstanding organisation. It has existed for 28 years and has managed LEADER funding in County Clare in an outstanding fashion. I pay tribute to the CEO, Doirin Graham, and her staff. As the Minister will be aware, last year, the then Minister, Deputy Ring, awarded the top ten performing local action groups an additional €5 million. Clare Local Development Company came 11th on that list. It lost out by 0.2%. We are living in a Covid world. There are many shovel-ready projects that could proceed if additional moneys were given to Clare Local Development Company. I am conscious that we are near the end of the programme but if we used common sense, we could allocate more money and get these projects going.

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