Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is good. This is really important and I have been on about this grant for the last few weeks. The deadline is next week, 29 May. It needs to be extended more. I see the Minister of State shake her head but the uptake in Carlow is not good. I know this because I have been speaking with all the businesses. I contacted the Chamber of Commerce and some businesses myself because of the uptake. I feel we need to do more. The worrying thing for the Department is why the uptake is so low in most areas. Carlow County Council has written to the businesses. What do we need to do? We need to give them some more time. The money that the businesses need is there. It is our duty of care to make sure the businesses get it.

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