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

The project in Newcastle has been brought to my attention by the Deputy. I have met him and his Oireachtas colleagues to discuss the matter. I fully understand and appreciate the need to support new communities. We need these facilities because communities are very much at the heart of areas. It is important that they have community centres in which they can meet, engage in sporting activities and so on.

We are targeting areas of population growth and will be looking for shovel-ready projects. Those applying to the scheme will need to have planning permission in place. I am not going to allocate money and then wait two years for planning permission to be obtained. That is not where we want to be. We need to have planning in place, as well as matched funding. I am looking for shovel-ready projects.

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