Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

First, more generally, the Minister for rural affairs will be meeting the Gaelic Athletic Association in respect of the new rural future design programme. The GAA is having a huge impact the length and breadth of the country on many fronts.

On the housing front, it is not fair to say that there is no focus on housing in rural Ireland. There is. The derelict grants and the vacant grants have been particularly used in rural Ireland to great effect. I have seen places myself. It was because I was walking through rural Ireland that I said to Darragh O'Brien in the last Government that we needed to develop such a derelict grant scheme, and it is having an impact. One can see it now in towns where houses have been refurbished and families have gone in to live in them.

On the bigger issue, depending on different areas, I do not think there are any applications from rural Waterford in terms of affordable housing schemes, but the more general help to buy scheme-----

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