Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

With regard to Storm Éowyn, many of the services that were put in place, such as meals on wheels and the provision of vehicles, as well as a community facility and some of the hubs that were used during the storm, would not have been there were it not for CLÁR grant assistance. The Minister will often have heard me speak in this House and within the party about the importance of cross-Border funding, the former INTERREG programme and the current PEACEPLUS programme.

I want to record my sincere appreciation of the Minister's work, along with that of the chief executive of the Special EU Programmes Body, Gina McIntyre, in advancing an application by Cavan County Council, the county board of the Cavan GAA and the Royal School Cavan to develop a major regional sports campus in Cavan town. I am delighted that formal approval of €15 million has come through this morning for this very exciting project. As the Minister knows from discussions I have had with him, it is a project I have worked with from the outset. I have been very glad to support Cavan County Council, the county board of the GAA and the Royal School in their very ambitious plan for a major regional sports campus. Thankfully, today, we have €34 million of public money in place - €19 million from the sports capital programme and €15 million through the Special EU Programmes Body. Those types of investments are critical in rural areas. The Minister’s help in advancing that application, along with that of Gina McIntyre, is much appreciated.

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