Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We currently have €230 million transferred to the local authority sector and that will cover the first and second rounds. Once that is disbursed, there will be a small enough buffer left over and, at that stage, we will assess what we can do with it. My focus is that any money that is voted by this House in the budget will be spent by my Department this year, and I am very clear on that. I and the two Ministers of State will be going forensically through each area to ensure that all money that businesses need badly goes into their bank accounts to help them with the increased regulatory environment. Local authorities across the country now have €230 million in their accounts to pay out this grant to businesses. Over the coming week, we will see the second payment going out to retail and hospitality. That is very important. They have endured a lot of regulatory change in the last 18 months and, hopefully, this will help them to prepare for a good second half of the year.

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