John Clendennen (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The local improvement scheme is one of the best schemes we have seen in terms of reaching corners of all parts of rural Ireland that may not necessarily have street lights or which may be waiting for broadband to be delivered. We should be encouraging councils to clear all their backlogs rather than breaking it down into districts or otherwise. If we can see a way to a situation where applications are sought, funding is provided and those lists are cleared, we must work in that regard. If we have a situation where districts are split, we can see waiting lists of years in some locations and a matter of months in others. We need to streamline it to ensure consistency right across counties.

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