Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)

I acknowledge that Department officials work really hard and are getting good value for the money that is allocated. When money is allocated to a community group, it will raise a whole lot more money itself to develop and grow the facilities. My big concerns centres around the areas where there is a huge increase in housing. The Minister talked about the allocation in Blarney, which is very welcome. The money has been well looked after and well spent there in developing the facilities. In the future, 2,500 more houses will built there. It is about making sure we have clearly marked out where we are going to put additional community facilities. Likewise in Glanmire, 30 acres was given to the FAI more than 12 years ago and it is still lying idle. We need to bring that into use and do major development for the town. The GAA club in Glammire does not have the capacity to take the huge number of young people who want to join the club. The club is finding it very challenging to cater for everyone because of the growth in the area. The issue of 30 acres lying idle needs to be resolved.

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