Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response, which was grand, but I asked for the details of the funds. The final paragraph of the reply, which was prepared on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, states " I am satisfied ... through a range of schemes, there are potential sources of funding”. That is not an answer to my question. He is satisfied but I need to be satisfied, as do we all. I asked this question because rural councillors throughout the country have said there have been promises of financial support for rural nodes, but where is the funding? The reply indicates there will be other phases of funding from 2022 to 2023, but when will we have that? I respectfully ask the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, if possible, to request an official in the Department to forward a supplementary response indicating a timeline for these funding sources. Who is administering them? Can we inform the local authorities and planning authorities of what is happening? What is the plan? The Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, clearly knows something more, at least I hope he does, given the reply states he is satisfied in this regard. Perhaps he could furnish us with a schedule of the funding he has identified, secured, discussed and told people about in order that we can get that into the public domain. I sincerely thank the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, for coming to the house today.