Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise with the Taoiseach support for the LGBT community. Funding under the community services fund, which is very important, is supposed to have a rural dimension. The Midlands LGBT+ Project, which runs a dedicated service for four counties in the midlands - Laois, Offaly, Westmeath and Kildare - is the only service for the LGBT community in those counties. It provides services to 15 groups, along with numerous individuals. I do not expect the Taoiseach to answer the question specific to the group. I am just giving him a flavour of the problem. The group applied for €98,000 but the midlands did not receive any funding whatsoever. Despite the fact that the fund is supposed to have a rural dimension, the midlands seems to be left out. Could the Government consider the fund to ascertain whether there is a problem with its criteria? Could the Taoiseach get the relevant Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and his Department to review how the funds are allocated and the scoring criteria? The whole middle of the country is left out regarding funding. It is very important.

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