Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the figures the Minister has outlined to us and I want to recognise the work of Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, in keeping our own parliamentary party informed every week and trying to get us to encourage businesses to apply for it in the first place. As the Minister has laid out with the figures, the disparity between Cork county and Cork city has flummoxed me over the last couple of weeks. Businesses in Cork county have applied at a relatively high level, albeit there is an issue, as has just been discussed in relation to the actual payout. On the other hand, the number of businesses applying for it in Cork city is much lower. Are there any further plans to advertise the scheme? Is it worthwhile for local authorities to contact businesses again directly? I am not quite sure what else they can do at this point. I ask the Minister to outline any further plans for getting that scheme out among people.

What kind of turnaround time does the Department envisage? If a good proportion of that money is with local authorities what is the typical turnaround? Is it a two-, three- or four-week turnaround or what was initially envisaged?

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