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

I thank the Minister. I want to acknowledge the wide variety of schemes available, which is good because it allows specific needs to be targeted. However, there are many options available to different groups, which means that they end up making a range of different applications, often carrying a lot of overheads and effort in order to access that funding.

I deal with a large number of people in my constituency office. The LEADER group IRD does similar. A range of others also do this work, including the council. There is no one-stop shop because there are so many different channels. It is difficult for groups to know where to access the various different streams. Can the Minister identify whether there could be a one-stop shop approach?

Due to myriad applications, many groups are putting a lot of effort into making the same, or very similar, application for a number of different programmes. There are overheads involved for individual groups at the expense of communities if funding is being directed towards applications. Has the Minister considered whether there are opportunities to change that?

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