Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is right in stating that Bandon is a fine town and it should have good playground facilities. However, in many cases, applications have not been put in. That is often a problem as we must get quality applications. All of them are assessed when they come in. I do not know the specific reason Bandon has not received funding but there are many different sources of funding it should be looking for, such as the CLÁR programme. I am not too sure if Bandon is in a CLÁR area or not, but that programme is available and has funded numerous playgrounds for schools in the community. The funding available for that is up to €50,000. Many projects in Cork have benefited from the CLÁR programme. The community enhancement programme, through which small grants are distributed by local authorities, gives funding to upgrade equipment and, possibly, buy new equipment. It is a very useful fund. If people want to fund green spaces and family amenities in the town, we have also supported playgrounds through the town and village fund.

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