David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with what the Minister of State said but I encourage him to engage with local authorities in this matter. They need encouragement, support and a policy direction. Does he agree that community centres can provide services, facilities and a place for people, young and old, to go at night and where communities can really develop? We need more of them and, where there is a deficit, that needs to be identified and encouragement provided to local authorities to address it. Such provision should be a condition of planning when new estates are being built in order that we do not have wildernesses and deserts, with rows of houses and no facilities. The Minister of State knows where that leads.

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