Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

It is clear that Deputy O’Flynn has done a lot of work. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, tells me he taught in the area so he knows it very well. I cannot give Deputy Gould a guarantee. Local authorities have to prepare plans but judging by the scoping work, site identification work and community meetings, it sounds as though they are doing the necessary preparatory work. It sounds like an area that needs it. With the Minister of State’s experience in the area, the Deputies will be pushing an open door. Nevertheless, that does not take away from the need for Cork City Council, working with the Deputies as Oireachtas representatives and with the local community, to have an adequately prepared application outlining the benefits that would be brought from it. This is very competitive - unfortunately, there are a lot of Ballyvolanes - but I hear Deputies Gould, O’Flynn, O’Sullivan and Burke and the Minister of State, who are all very loud in their support for this.

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