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

I will take those two schemes in Cavan to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan and raise them with him directly. Any local authority should apply for funding where needed. There is a very low refusal rate. I think only about 10% of schemes are refused. Also, as we discussed, there is a low rate of drawdown on the projects. Sometimes projects are approved but the funding is not drawn down. The question was phrased in such a way as to ask if there will be sufficient money next for year. There is always sufficient money in the budget. The problem has always been spending the money that is in the budget. It is available for anyone who needs it. The budget is set at such a level that if there is a very bad year, where there were bad storms for instance, there is enough money to cover those flood-relief works. I think the emphasis has to be not on increasing the funding but on making sure that the Deputy's local authority does apply for the funding and has capacity to do it. If they need advice or help to apply for the funding, we can help with that.

I will take the two schemes in Cavan to the Minister of State.

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