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

Cork City Council did not submit an application for funding for the Blackrock-Mahon library under the libraries capital programme 2023-2027 on this occasion. The discussions regarding a potential site had not been concluded before a submission date, which is fair enough. My Department previously advised Cork County Council to consider submitting an application for the Blackrock-Mahon library to the urban regeneration and development fund which is administer by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The council has been advised of the requirement to progress the Blackrock-Mahon library project through my Department’s four-stage capital management process. I understand the local authority plans to submit a stage 1 application for approval in principle to my Department. This is to ensure the project complies with the public library standards and benchmarks which seek to secure a very high standard of infrastructure and service development across the service. Basically, talk to my Department. The council can put in a big capital application to the urban fund because over a certain size, my rural regeneration fund does not cover it.

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