Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for his response. He referenced the rural but I am also conscious of Kildare, which has the unique issue that it has a number of large towns, like Athy and Newbridge in the south, and Monasterevin, Clane, Celbridge, Leixlip, Naas, Maynooth and Kilcock in the north. We can see where dereliction has impacted those towns and where there is a need for regeneration. We have a great team in Kildare County Council but it is small, with just one or two individuals who are actually going out to try to tackle that dereliction. We know that through the laws and even through the courts, some of the issues can be blocked.

My mother is from outside Boyle, County Roscommon, and I have seen how Boyle has been rejuvenated. We can see the benefit of town centre first and how it comes together. A lot of that has been done through Government funding and the purchase of a local hotel. I have seen how it can work and how we can have positive solutions in some areas. What I want is to have that rolled out across the country, starting with County Kildare at Leixlip, Celbridge, Kilcock and down to Athy, where Deputy Wall is from.

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