Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is correct about drawdown. Much of the funds are not drawn down. Roughly half the funds approved have actually been drawn down during the five-year period we were looking at. The budget itself is not entirely applied for. There is always much more money in the budget than is applied for by the local authorities. I would encourage the Deputy to ask his local authority to apply for the funding for minor works schemes and then to make sure that it does draw it down.

There must be a role for county councillors in local authorities to pursue their council executive over these matters to, first, request that they ask for money and then to make sure that they draw it down and make sure that they spend it. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, asked me to convey to the Deputy that he is planning to visit Midleton in coming weeks.

Of course, sea level rises are something that affect not only the Deputy's constituency but also my own. In Dún Laoghaire the railway line runs along the seafront and this is becoming a cost for Irish Rail as well as for the country as a whole and everyone who happens to live near the coast, which is an increasing number.

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