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

I thank the Deputy. There is co-ordination and it is being done through the town regeneration officers. It is their job to work together through the local authority and to identify funding schemes.

Offaly has not been doing too badly. I remember being up in the supermarket I visited in Edenderry and €12.25 million was provided for that. That is a wonderful project. I visited it myself. It is an old supermarket and has been transformed. Indeed, other funding was provided there are for different initiatives. I have been to Offaly on a couple of occasions.

On funding, good applications always get funding. There is a remote working hub in Killleigh which received €250,000 and €300,000 was provided to support the purchase of a former school retail unit in Clara to develop a multipurpose community space. A great deal is happening out there. If some town is not getting the funding, they need to talk to the local authority and need to engage with it. They need to get an application in to my Department. In fairness, we have been supporting towns and villages the length and breadth of this country. It would do your heart good when you go into these towns.

I do not know how it is all happening in Edenderry but we are looking forward to going back to clipping the ribbon on it because I am sure it must be nearly finished at this stage. Deputy Nolan would know better than I would where it is at. There is a great deal of investment.

By the way, there was a suite of business supports for small businesses. I understand the challenges they face. I heard the man on the radio this morning from An Post telling us about the number of online shopping purchases that are being made and that we have to get online and change the way we do business. The centre of our towns are changing because a great deal more people are shopping online. We know that. That is not so much for me but with my daughters, there are always boxes appearing in the house.

See this speech in context