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

A total of €50 million has been allocated. It has gone to every county. Some counties put in few big projects, while other counties put in a large number of smaller projects. This year, €30 million is allocated to be spent, while €20 million is allocated to be spent next year. That is because some of the projects, particularly the larger ones, may take longer than others. The first tranche of invoices are due into my Department by 6 October. Very little has been spent to date because the first drawdown deadline is 6 October. The Department will be engaging with local authorities to ensure we have a strong drawdown in 2023. More than 880 projects were included in the funding proposals approved from the local authorities. We want to keep the pressure on. I know the communities want to feel the impact of the projects but, as I stated, smaller projects will deliver much more quickly. That is why we left €20 million to be spent next year - there is planning and work to go into it.

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