Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The local property tax, LPT, is a separate argument. The issue here is the findings of the report we are talking about. The report stated that we are not getting our fair share of funding under various schemes. The report has been independently verified. The research was commissioned by the county council.

The residual and persistent shortfall in financial allocations to Cork county is evident across several Departments and public bodies and these are associated with a failure to allocate it on the basis of three established administrative divisions and the persistence of a county basis or a branded tiered model. That is the finding of the report. The independent report states residual and persistent shortfalls in financial allocations to Cork county are evident across several Departments.

It is as clear as that. I can talk about all the schemes and communities which need funding. They are all worthy of being mentioned here, but the reality is there is a residual and persistent shortfall. I ask the Minister of State to take my concerns back to the Department, to the officials who are going through this. We need clear political leadership to say County Cork has had shortfall across all Departments and that shortfall will be addressed, whether it is in the town and village renewal scheme, CLÁR, the rural regeneration programme or the roads programme.

I plead with the Minister of State to take these concerns back. I am raising this issue out of the most genuine concern for the communities I represent, because they need funding from the Government. When we are not getting our fair share of Government funding, it is clearly an injustice to our people.

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