Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I agree with the Deputy. Where we can colocate community facilities, it is much better for everybody. It is a more cohesive community. I know the Minister, Deputy Foley, who has responsibility under the building blocks scheme, has also expressed an interest in working with the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer and myself on this.

To come back to Deputy McGreehan, as I said, over €80 million has been approved for the refurbishment and enhancement of existing community centres since 2022. Last year, we funded over €30 million for 12 new community centres. My priority, at the moment, is to get those 12 projects up and running to get that money drawn down. We have over 770 projects completed and they are already delivering very real benefits, not just during storms. I am sure there are many community centres hosting summer camps as we speak, giving great relief to parents and guardians at this time of year.

That is being done by volunteers in many cases. It shows the value of it all-year-round. In relation to Mullaghbuoy, as the Deputy mentioned, €24,000 was approved in 2022 to improve the kitchen facilities and €19,000 in 2024 for energy security upgrades. Much of the focus has been on upgrading community centres that were built at a certain time when energy costs were not a priority. They now are. We are now assisting community centres to reduce their energy costs.

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