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

I will be brief because I have four supplementaries. First, will the Minister of State clarify that Cork County Council has drawn its full allocation from the previous year? I believe it has.

Second, the Minister of State mentioned the double allocation, and obviously that additional funding is welcome, but Cork County Council requested more than €5 million last year and received just €1.7 million. Such a massive shortfall leads to the expansion of the waiting list, not the cutting of it.

Third, Deputy O'Rourke touched on this issue in relation to private contractors. Are county councils allowed to engage with private contractors if they are struggling to maintain the workload themselves? Is that a local decision that can be made? Is there a policy direction from the Department?

Fourth, many of the former county areas absorbed into Cork City Council were due for LIS or CIS works at the time. They fell off the list when they were absorbed into the Cork City Council boundary. As I said to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, previously, special provision should be made for those former county areas that were absorbed into the Cork city boundary because they are predominantly rural in their nature. I would appreciate it if that could be reviewed.

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