Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

We funded 59 projects in Galway since 2020 under ORIS with an investment of €4.944 million. There are some really good ones, including the Creggs mountain walk and the Glinsk Heritage Park, which are two really good examples.

In relation to the LIS, since 2020 we have funded 195 roads in Galway, an investment of €10.04 million. That is money well spent.

As regards ORIS, one of the few good things to come out of Covid was that people embraced the outdoors and, more importantly, their local outdoors. We see it in the increase in people using facilities. We see it particularly in our partnership with Coillte around recreational spaces and forests and where we make investments. There has been an extraordinary increase in people using existing forests where trails have been opened, access has been opened and investments have been made in infrastructure and facilities to draw people to forests. I was with the Leas-Cheann Comhairle in Kilkenny earlier in the summer opening up new facilities there. It is extraordinary to see how small investments can totally open up an area and allow people to make full use of their local infrastructure facilities.

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