John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for all his support for this application in recent weeks. While Dundalk is the largest town in Ireland, the Minister of State's home town of Mullingar has similar issues. He knows the issues at stake here, therefore. He is right to state that this is transformative funding. It has the potential to unlock previously unimagined ideas. Much urban regeneration funding has come into Dundalk in the past two years. The Bridge Street area is the final piece in the jigsaw. The application and substantial funding I seek today, which must be millions of euro, is the first part of the jigsaw that will benefit the rest of the Bridge Street area. If this application for funding is successful, we will sit back down with Louth County Council to consider which application we will submit next to progress regeneration even more. We will be bringing that issue back to the attention of the Minister of State. I cannot stress enough how vital this funding is for Dundalk. It really needs to be approved, and we must do everything we can to get this funding application across the line.