John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. I accept that the Government provides valuable support to many community projects in this category and this sector by means of a range of other funding tranches managed by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government. I suppose there would have been very little point in the addition by the Government of "natural environment" as a qualifying category under the 2013 Act, which is what happened when it accepted an amendment in good faith as outlined by the Minister of State, if the Government did not intend to follow through on it. I do not think it is a question of other worthy causes being displaced. Of course there are challenges associated with competition for limited resources. I think the merits of any of the projects across the country that I have mentioned would stand up to scrutiny in terms of giving good value for money to the Government and to communities for generations to come. That is really what we have to look at. We have to ensure the inclusion of "natural environment" was not merely a cosmetic exercise. The best way to do that is to follow through on it with funding.