Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be happy to come back to the Deputy in detail on the specific projects he raises. I know from my visit to west Cork in the past couple of days there has been huge investment in the area. The Deputy knows in the town of Bandon the amount of work that has been done to install flood relief. We all remember the floods in Bandon. Under the previous Government and this one, millions of euro have been invested in flood protection works. Also in Bandon, I saw the work being done to upgrade the main street. I think about €30 million has been put into that town by this Government in recent years, which I know the Deputy neglected to welcome but I am sure he does welcome it.

I heard very encouraging news from the councillors I met there on the uptake of the derelict buildings grant. I think there have been about 500 applications in County Cork alone for people to take on, refurbish and renovate derelict buildings and bring them back into use. That is really encouraging because we want to bring old buildings back into use. There has been huge investment under the LEADER programme, the town and village scheme and the national broadband plan. I am glad to see that is working. I absolutely acknowledge more investment is needed in west Cork and around the country in coming years, but that investment will only be possible if we can pay for it and we will only be able to pay for it if we continue to have a Government made up of parties that supported the economic policies introduced in this country over the past ten or 12 years.

See this speech in context